"Suicide Kings" is the latest movie that has college- and high school-audience appeal written all over it, but without the horror.
"This movie is much better than those horror films they keeping coming out with," Jeremy Sisto says on the phone from his New York hotel.
"I thought it was a great story, very entertaining. It brought up some really cool questions and it was thrilling, I really liked it."
The story's premise is that for the five rich twenty-something characters, life is so easy, they have to create their own problems.
Avery Chasten, (Henry Thomas from E.T.) is the son of one of New York's richest families whose sister was just kidnapped. The kidnappers want $2 million for her return. But Avery doesn't want to get his parents or the police involved -- he wants to play the action hero himself.
So with help from his prep school buddies Avery devises a plan to get her back. However, the scheme isn't completely foolproof, or as thought out, as they hoped.
The Strategy: Kidnap former mafia don, Charlie Barrett (Christopher Walken), in hopes of using him as a bargaining chip for Avery's sister. This way, they figure, if they torture Barrett enough, he would make some calls and have her home for the dinner. And while they have this rich thug, they might as well have him pay the ransom too.
The only problem is that when Barrett does his part to figure out who has the girl, his sources tell him that one of the five friends is in on it.
But who could it be? All five friends become suspect, and with good reason, they all have their own afflictions which make perfect motives to the crime.
First there's Brett, (played by Jay Mohr from Jerry Maquire) a kid with a bit of a control problem and a gambling habit. Next is T.K., (Jeremy Sisto of Grand Canyon) the son of a doctor, a fact that seems to make him think he can perform surgery, and who also has a liking for morphine.
Then there's Max, (Sean Patrick Flanery, Powder) the sister's forbidden boyfriend and the only witness to the crime. And finally Ira, (Johnny Galecki, Roseanne) a guy who desperately wants to be liked and accepted by his friends, and who thought he was being invited to a poker game - not a felony.
"It's a very volatile group actually, all the characters are kind of ego based and very egotistical and very controlling," Sisto says. "They're kind of all assholes in their own way and they're all spoiled. You don't really want to like the guys too much."
But it is because the group has been so pampered throughout their lives that they are driven to create a catastrophe -- invoking a real-life dilemma in their pretend, play world.
"They all live such privileged lives," Sisto says. "They really don't have a lot of problems in their lives, so they create their own. In a sense they sabotage themselves, they're destructive because they've always had things handed to them on a golden plate."
These pampered "suicide kings," with help from a tied-up Barrett -- who only has nine fingers left thanks to the group -- play the game of "who did it" while questioning the confidence and devotion they previously imbedded in one another.
For Galecki, the chance to play the role was such a break from the routine of television's sit-coms, that he jumped at the chance.
"I was really looking for something different than what I was doing," Galecki says to why he chose to do the flick. "It was during the last season of the Roseanne show, I really wanted to find the role that was different from the quiet and passive character that I was playing -- something bigger and broader and louder and more neurotic. And it was perfect."
Galecki's career began at age 7, performing in a variety of different productions including National Lampoon's Christmas Vacaction and I Know What You Did Last Summer. But his long tenure at Roseanne almost ran him the risk of being cast-typed.
And while the role of Ira still isn't that much of a departure from Galecki's character on Roseanne, it was still an opportunity to expose his talents to a wider audience.
"I was really looking for a role that was different, just for my own frame of mind," he says. "It was more of a personal desire than a professional plan. Hopefully, people will be able to see that I can do something different than they might be used to."
At 23, Sisto has already launched a mildly successful career. His performances include, The Hideaway, Clueless, White Squall and now more recently, Without Limits and Bongwater (both set for release in the coming months).
But the choice for Sisto, he says, grew from his attraction towards the script.
Sisto and Galecki have worked together before. At ages 12, they starred in a theatrical performance together in Chicago.
Eleven years later, the two play characters who form a bond of trying to find out which friend is the conspirator in the kidnapping. However, the two characters are completely opposite.
"Ira is very much a pleaser, and he wants everyone to like him," Galecki says. "I think anyone who's half a good person wants that, wants their parents to be proud of them and wants their friends to like them and respect them. But he's just ten-fold, he just tries too damn hard and he doesn't take a break or a breath."
Sisto also offers his take on his character.
"T.K. is one of those guys who really likes anything he's doing," Sisto says. "And what he's doing, he really gets into. He may not be the smartest guy in the world, but he loves doing the simple things."
While Galecki's character doesn't want anything to do with the circumstances unfolding, T.K.is the one that does the dirty work on Barrett. But just because one is trying to wash his hands clean of the crime and the other act as the executioner, that doesn't necessarily mean neither of them weren't in on it.
"I played it so that you couldn't count me out for sure," Sisto says. "We made a couple of choices that we wanted to make and we decided not to because it would be too obvious that it wasn't me. But I think overall in the true story of it; I am the true pursuer of who did it because T.K. has such high respect for loyalty and friendship. And he's really just trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I think he's the one most betrayed by all of them, because he gets the least out it."
Despite of Suicide Kings being a fun thriller on the surface, by keeping audiences guessing the whole time, both actors agreed there was an elusive subtext to the film.
"I think there's a lot that happens in the movie and I think there's a whole lot going on that underlies the story," Galecki says. "What's really interesting about the movie, to me, are the underlying themes about honesty and loyalty. It's very much in the forefront, as well as in the dialogue.
"But just in the dynamic of the characters and how they think they all know each other and have instilled a blind faith in one another. As soon as there is an element of or an aspect or an iota of suspicion about their honesty or their loyalty, every one of them seems to throw their guard up to protect themselves."
"I think on the surface it's a fun movie, but underneath it brings up questions about morality, loyalty, friendship, the class system. It blows the cover on certain stereotypes," Sisto says. "I think it's a really interesting film and it has some profound insights."
Already attached to the movie, when Galecki and Sisto signed on, was veteran actor, Christopher Walken. Both were big fans of his work and they said they looked forward to working with him prior to the shooting.
"Walken is very funny, a very funny man with a contagious laugh," Galecki says. "But he takes the work very seriously, despite how long he's done this, and how many movies he's done, and how recognized his work has been.
"He approaches each film with enthusiasm and excitement and such effort, like it was his first movie. He asked a lot of questions, which was great because it made all of us feel like we didn't need to be afraid or embarrassed to ask what might be a stupid question in front of him, the director or the group of fellas. He gave us a great sense of freedom on the set," Galecki says.
Galecki admitted that he was the only one of the principle cast who couldn't imitate Walken's distinct voice. Fellow cast member, Mohr, has even done Saturday Night Live sketches poking fun at the way Walken speaks. Galecki said he wondered if just by nature the group would start talking like Walken on accident.
"I was concerned that we would all start talking like that whether we wanted to or not during the shooting and spending so much time with Walken," he says. "So I didn't even, even in the privacy of my own home, try to impersonate him."
Galecki and Sisto both want to continue making more films, but both have desires to move into other areas of film some day.
Along with a friend, Galecki recently sold a screenplay, Snollygoster. And Sisto says he would like to direct in the future, that is, if he ever gets around to it.
"I want to direct someday," he says. "I think I would be good at it, but I'm just too lazy. I'm only 23, but I haven't got my shit together to take on that responsibility. I think I would do really well at it because I think I'm really sensitive towards actors. I have good instincts in telling stories and visual... I think I would be a good director. If it comes my way, I think I would do it well, but I don't know what's in store for my future."
But for now, they are concentrating on generating sufficient hype for Suicide Kings.
"I hope the audience has fun, I hope they have a good time," Galecki says. "I think if you sit down to be entertained, then you will be. It's not a movie with a whole lot of social messages, but it's a movie that is a good example of good escapism. It also raises some interesting questions if you choose to ponder them.
"I don't know if people have enough fun with movies any more, a lot of people seem to pay their money to sit and point out the flaws of films now, which is disappointing only because they're cheating themselves out of a good time."
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