Penn & Teller Get Killed (1989)

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers (WGA):

Penn Jillette (written by) and
Teller (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

What more do you want?

Plot:

Penn & Teller enjoy playing jokes on each other. When Penn says on an interview show that he wishes...

Plot Keywords:

Metal Detector | Actor Playing Himself | Magic | Attempted Murder | Black Comedy

Cast

Penn Jillette	...	Penn Jillette
Teller	...	Teller
Caitlin Clarke	...	Carlotta / Officer McNamara (as Celia McGuire)
David Patrick Kelly	...	The Fan
Leonardo Cimino	...	Ernesto
Celia McGuire	...	Officer McNamara
Bill Randolph	...	Floor Director
John Miller	...	Steve the bandleader
Ellen Whyte	...	Makeup Woman
Ted Neustadt	...	Bob the host
Tudor Sherrard	...	1st Frat Boy
Billy Morrissette	...	2nd Frat Boy
Jon Cryer	...	3rd Frat Boy
Leonard Parker	...	Airport Porter
Christopher Durang	...	Jesus Freak

Also Known As:

Dead Funny

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Iceland:12 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Lorimar Film Entertainment

Trivia:

Teller talks at the end of the movie, which for many people was the first time they had ever heard the magician's voice.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Penn is being removed from the casino by the cop, his chants of "Attica! Attica!" don't match his mouth. That's because he originally sang "We shall overcome! We shall overcome!" as can be seen in the trailer.

Quotes:

Penn: [to waitress] Gracias.
Carlotta: Very good! And how do you say "son of a hooker"?
Penn: Hijo de puta!
Carlotta: EE-ho de puta.
Penn: Hijo de puta. This is great! Now I can say "thank you", "son of a bitch", and "the dog is big and black". I'm becoming a world citizen!

Movie Connections:

References A Plumbing We Will Go (1940)

Soundtrack:

Femme fatale

Subversive, Twisted Fun

Penn and Teller Get Killed isn't what you'd call a triumph of skilled film-making. The primary function of the movie is to allow Penn and Teller to perform their routines and display their trademark style -- a style that has as much to do with their attitudes as it does their 'magic.' If you like them, you'll like the movie; if not, you probably won't.

That said, the plot is interesting enough, and the film is not JUST a vehicle. The film itself really does reflect their twisted sensibility, and that may be its strongest point -- it's not just "Penn and Teller do some magic with a plot pasted on." It's really what you'd expect if someone allowed these two to make a movie. (The ending, in particular, is one of the strangest I've ever seen.) The film is perfectly Penn and Teller: it gets inside your head, twists things around, breaks some stuff, and leaves with a smile as you try and figure out what to do with the mess.