DOUBLE WHAMMY

Year: 2001
UK: Winchester Film Distribution
Cast: Dennis Leary, Steve Buscemi, Elizabeth Hurley, Luis Guzman, Chris Noth, Keith Nobbs, Victor Argo, Donald Faison, Melonie Diaz, Maurice G Smith, Daniel Margotta, Rachel Avalon, Daisy Baldwin, Gerry Bamman, Christian Baskous, Bill Boggs, Geoffrey Cantor, Maurice Compte, Joe D'Angerio, Heather Dillon, Erin Hogarty, Sara Lee Kessler, Kerry Li, Leslie Lyles, Kevin Olson, Stephanie Ortiz, Sally Jessy Raphael, Toni Redman, Jose Robelo, Marilyn Rockafellow, Otto Sanchez, Danny Seckel, Maurice Shrog, Suzanne Smith, Millie Tirelli, Rachel Vasquez, Laurie Wallace, Sharon Wilkins
Director: Tom DiCillo
Country: USA
UK: 90 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, moderate violence and drug use
UK Release Date: 18 July 2003

Synopsis

New York City police Detective Ray Pluto (Denis Leary) is a good cop with a bad back. He's also suffering emotional pain from a guilty conscience over the death of his wife and daughter which he believes he could have prevented. Consequently, he's closed himself off from human contact, with his only friends his partner Jerry Cubbins (Steve Buscemi) and Juan Benitez (Luis Guzman), the caretaker of the rundown apartment building in which he lives. He also takes an interest in helping Juan's troubled 16 year-old daughter Maribel (Melonie Diaz) who is constantly at odds with her father. But basically, Pluto's work as a cop is his life.

And then, everything changes when Pluto gets a 'double whammy.' Bad luck has his back act up at the worst possible moment, in the middle of an attempted crime in a fast food restaurant. As Pluto writhes helplessly on the floor, a young boy grabs his gun and holds the perpetrator at bay until police backup arrives. The boy becomes an instant hero and media darling, while Pluto becomes the joke of the police force and most of the city, where he's now known as 'the loser cop.'

To make matters worse, his boss, Lt. Spigot (Victor Argo) reassigns all of Pluto's cases to his arch-rival detective Chick Dmitri (Chris Noth) and puts Pluto on restricted duty until his back is fixed. So at the suggestion of his partner, Pluto reluctantly goes to a chiropractor, Dr. Ann Beamer (Elizabeth Hurley). And before even one click of his back, there's an instant attraction between them. Over the course of several visits, she fixes his back and they fall in love.

Pluto is put back on regular duty. But when Juan is stabbed in a suspicious attempted robbery in his apartment, with his daughter as a witness, and is hospitalized in critical condition, Dimitri is the detective assigned to the case. So Pluto decides to risk his career by doing his own investigation to solve the crime, to help his friend and perhaps, in the process, regain his own self-respect.

DOUBLE WHAMMY, a comedy/drama, stars Denis Leary, Elizabeth Hurley, Steve Buscemi and Luis Guzman, with Tom DiCillo directing from his original screenplay and was filmed entirely on locations in New York City and New Jersey.