Contents



They've Been Bad. Very Bad.

1998



Very bad Things (1998)  
    
Directed by 
Peter Berg    
  
Writing credits 
Peter Berg    
  
Cast (in credits order) complete, awaiting verification  
Jon Favreau ....  Kyle Fisher  
Leland Orser ....  Charles Moore  
Cameron Diaz ....  Laura Garrety  
Christian Slater ....  Robert Boyd  
Rob Brownstein ....  Man  
Jeremy Piven ....  Michael Berkow  
Daniel Stern ....  Adam Berkow  
Jeanne Tripplehorn ....  Lois Berkow  
Joey Zimmerman (I) ....  Adam Berkow Jr.  
Tyler Cole Malinger ....  Timmy Berkow  
Kobé Tai ....  Tina (prostitute) (as Carla Scott)  
Russell B. McKenzie ....  Security Guard  
Pancho Demmings ....  Cop  
Blake Gibbons ....  Suit  
Angelo Di Mascio Jr. ....  Clerk  
Lawrence Pressman ....  Mr. Fisher  
Steve Fitchpatrick ....  Cop at Hospital  
Brian Grandison ....  Doctor #1  
John Cappon ....  Doctor #2  
Linda Klein ....  Doctor #3  
Byrne Piven ....  Rabbi  
Bob Bancroft ....  Barry Morris  
Trey Davis ....  Receptionist  
Marilyn McIntyre ....  Judge Tower  
  
Produced by 
Cindy Cowan    
Ted Field   (executive)  
Laura Greenlee   (line)  
Michael A. Helfant   (executive)  
Scott Kroopf   (executive)  
Diane Nabatoff    
Michael Schiffer    
Christian Slater   (executive)  
  
Original music by 
Stewart Copeland    
  
Cinematography by 
David Hennings    
  
Film Editing by 
Dan Lebental    
  
Casting 
Debi Manwiller    
Richard Pagano    
  
Production Design by 
Dina Lipton    
  
Art Direction 
Michael Atwell    
  
Set Decoration 
Katherine Lucas   (as Kathy Lucas)  
  
Costume Design by 
Terry Dresbach    
  
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director 
Richard Oswald (III) ....  second assistant director  
Basti Van Der Woude ....  second second assistant director  
  
Sound Department 
Yann Delpuech ....  supervising sound editor  
Gary Gegan ....  sound mixer  
Philip Harrelson ....  assistant sound editor  
Matthew Iadarola ....  sound mixer  
Darren King (I) ....  sound editor  
Gregory King ....  supervising sound editor  
Rob Nokes (I) ....  assistant sound editor  
John Switzer ....  post sound co-ordinator  
Meg Taylor ....  assistant sound editor  
Mark Weingarten ....  sound mixer  
  
Special Effects 
Lincoln Kupchak ....  visual effects editor  
John P. Mesa ....  visual effects supervisor  
Dan Novy ....  visual effects technical supervisor  
Sean Prusak ....  visual effects rotoscope artist  
  
Stunts 
Perry Barndt ....  stunts  
Richard L. Blackwell ....  stunts  
Francis Bradley ....  stunts  
Hal Burton ....  stunts  
Jennifer Caputo ....  stunts  
Gilbert B. Combs ....  stunts  
J. Mark Donaldson ....  stunts  
Chris Howell ....  stunt co-ordinator  
Robert Jauregui ....  stunts  
Kurt D. Lott ....  stunts  
Billy Morts ....  stunts
stunt double: Christian Slater  
Spiro Razatos ....  stunts  
David Rowden ....  stunts  
Spike Silver ....  stunts  
  
Other crew 
Jennifer Barak ....  assistant music editor  
Keith Batchelor ....  electrician  
Eric Bergman ....  post-production supervisor  
Joe Broderick ....  steadicam operator
additional camera operator  
Bruce Callahan ....  driver  
H. Clive-Richards ....  best boy electric  
Raul Colletta ....  video playback  
Stephan Collins ....  steadicam operator  
Jennifer Croyle ....  clearences  
Michael DeSantis ....  accounting clerk
second assistant accountant  
Caleb Dewart ....  production assistant  
Eddie Farmer ....  electrician  
Ian Fox ....  camera operator  
Kirk R. Gardner ....  steadicam operator (as Kirk Gardner)  
Paul Hargrove ....  craft service  
Noelle King ....  set designer  
Webster Kolich ....  extras casting  
John W. Kristopik ....  electrician  
Patricia LaMagna ....  assistant to Mr. Slater (as Patty La Magna)  
Maura C. Lanahan ....  production assistant  
Jack Lane ....  camera loader  
Jerry Legget ....  first assistant accountant  
Sterling Meredith ....  music supervisor  
Teresa L.E. Meyer ....  production co-ordinator  
Hilary Momberger ....  script supervisor  
Dominick Napolitano ....  first assistant camera  
Jennifer Nash ....  music editor  
Randy Nolen ....  steadicam operator  
Bryan O'Cain ....  production assistant  
Derek Raser ....  transportation co-ordinator  
Dave Reynolds (V) ....  production assistant  
Michael G. Riba ....  first assistant camera (as Mike Riba)  
Bobbi-Lynn Riley ....  assistant production co-ordinator  
Frank Salvino ....  executive in charge of post-production  
Mindy Sheldon ....  production accountant  
Ashley Siville ....  art department production assistant  
Alex Skvorzov ....  chief lighting technician  
Gary Thomas (II) ....  storyboard artist  
Henry Tirl ....  steadicam operator  
Michael J. Walsh ....  second assistant camera  
Jeff Zimmerman ....  additional camera operator  
Robert Zuckerman ....  still photographer  
  
 

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VERY BAD THINGS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

"It's a 105 pound problem that's got to be moved from point A to point B," real estate salesman and self-help fanatic Robert Boyd (Christian Slater) explains confidently to his four buddies. Well, it's a 105 pound "dead body" problem and moving it from one point to another proves anything but simple in writer and director Peter Berg's VERY BAD THINGS.

The title of the movie should serve both as a warning and a come-on. For those of you who loved THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and -- this is an important "and" -- are not squeamish when it comes to gore in the service of comedy, VERY BAD THINGS will likely prove to be an extremely enjoyable black comedy. On the other hand, if you're the type that closes your eyes during the bloody parts of films, pass on this one since you are going to miss seeing large sections of it.

The movie's satire is so dark that the word black comedy doesn't quite capture the essence of its take-no-prisoners approach. It would be more helpful if we had a grading scale like numismatists do for uncirculated coins. On a darkness scale, this movie would be a few notches shy of a black hole.

The story opens at Laura Garrety's wedding. She is an anal retentive character, played with bitchy charm by Cameron Diaz from THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY. Diaz's character has shades of the one she played in one of my favorite indie comedies, THE LAST SUPPER, in which a group of pompous liberals set out to murder conservatives as their malevolent way of improving the human race.

Flashing back to a few days earlier, her fiance, Kyle Fisher (Jon Favreau), and his four buddies, Robert Boyd (Slater), Adam Berkow (Daniel Stern), Michael Berkow (Jeremy Piven) and Charles Moore (Leland Orser) head for Las Vegas for Kyle's bachelor party.

Robert has hired the stripper, a.k.a., prostitute, that is de rigueur in such crude affairs. Before she arrives, the late twenty-something guys stoke up their bodies with liberal doses of cocaine and booze. By the time she gets there, they are jumpy and excitable. They end up breaking the furniture and her, quite accidentally, but quite permanently.

When they realize the stripper is dead, the normally nice guys do what most decent folks would, they start to call 911. One suggests calling the police instead since she is most sincerely dead. And then Robert, the group's leader, weighs in with his opinion.

"There are always options," he counsels. And options in his book include chopping up the body with electric saws and killing anyone else that might get in the way.

Meanwhile, back at home, Laura is continuing to deal with her series of crises, the biggest of which is that the chairs for the wedding aren't going to have the pads on them that she was promised. She calls Kyle frequently to demand that he stay on top of this earthshaking issue.

Once the guys make it back home, the crime begins to weigh heavily on their minds in one Hitchcockian moment after another. The best part of the film occurs in the pained look on all the guy's faces, with the exception of Robert, who is the film's truest deviant. Unlike the seriously deranged Robert, the other guys live in absolute terror of being caught. Paranoia runs rampant in everything they do.

Jeanne Tripplehorn plays the closest thing to a normal person that the film has. She is Adam's wife, Lois. A perky housewife, whose biggest problem is getting the kids their favorite candy, Lois is oblivious to her husband's panic attacks. The worst she suspects him of doesn't even come close to the sins he has committed.

Although not for the faint of heart, the movie will have you squirming in your seats and likely, laughing loudly. Our audience got so rambunctious that they begin to shush each other so they wouldn't miss any of the funny lines.

The film, which never pulls its punches, has a hilarious ending that's so non-PC and generally indecent that it is likely to evoke the strongest reaction of all from the audience. If you hated the film, you're likely to loathe this part most of all. Those who like the picture's over-the-top approach will probably think the ending is a perfect cap to a completely irreverent comedy.

VERY BAD THINGS runs 1:51. It is rated R for strong, grisly violence, sex, nudity, profanity and drug use and would be acceptable for teenagers only if they are older and mature.

Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: www.InternetReviews.com




Have I seen this movie: Yes
And what did I think: Very bad things.... not a very bad, but not a very good comedy. This movie claims it is a black comedy, but the laughs were too far and inbetween. The movie stars Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Stern along with other lead characters. It's about 5 guys who go to Vegas to celebrate their buddy getting married and things just get out of hand when the prostitute the guys hire for the party is accidently killed. They have to cover it up and things just get worse when they kill the hotel security guard when he discovers the body. The guys have to deal with each other freaking out before the wedding and let's just say, things don't go so smooth. Kyle, played by Jon Favreau is still trying to keep his wedding going since Cameron Diaz who plays his fiance, say that her wedding takes top priority over everything. Oh, she eventually does get married but at the end of the film she is definately wishing that she didn't. That's probably the funniest scene of the movie. Throughout the movie we watch these guys keep getting deeper and deeper in trouble mostly because of Robert Boys played by Christian Slater. It's because of him that the decided to cover up everything in the first place. I was hoping to laugh more while watching, but instead I was just shocked at some of the things. This movie isn't exactly for the faint of heart since it's filled with violence and some sex. If you're looking for a great comedy then you should pass this by, otherwise it's not bad checking out if you're into disturbing movies.

I give Very Bad Things 3 out of 5 stars
Review written February 12, 2000
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