'Heads' is the story of excessively nerdy, uptight journalist, Guy Franklin (Jon Cryer) who is recently hired to the reporter staff of the small newspaper company where he works. His nose-for-news boss Abner (Ed Asner), radiant and always assessing a story from its selling point, gives Guy his first real job: investigating the series of decapitations around their small, rural town. Only, what Guy finds out is that, it's not just murder, but involves a whole lot more dirty business.
Obviously it is a black comedy. One that starts slow, and carries on the shoulders of Ed Asner's wild-eyed character, initially (he only later in the film becomes less interesting as the mood of his character shifts towards the latter half of the film). Guy Franklin, at times too annoying for such timidity he exhibits, is actually, initially a boring character. The movie actually picks up the pace and becomes much funnier once Jennifer Tilly, as Abner's promiscuous daughter, enters the picture and latches on to her polar opposite: Guy, and turns him away from his routines of safety and pre-planning. The characters in these films are like caricatures of typical figures from 1950s cinema fiction, much like those in 'The Hudsucker Proxy,' released the following year.
While the film does tend to become a bit too long in its resolution, and despite its other flaws, it may be a film that dark comedy cult fans may enjoy.
