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“
Billy: Richie... You're not actually gonna... hurt anyone, are you? Richie: No. But Billy, if I'm gonna help you, you can't ask that question again.
„
~ Richie Ginelli
Richie Ginelli is a major character in Stephen King's body-horror novel Thinner. He's a mobster that Billy Halleck helped to acquit at the beginning of the film, earning Billy a favor. This favor ended up being helping him get Tadzu Lempke to take the curse that he had put on him off.
Richie is a stereotypical mobster gives favors to those that help him. He is very generous and grateful to his friends, spoiling Billy on his Yacht after Billy helped him acquitted. Richie was quick to honor Billy's favor, but he was also willing to do whatever it took in order to get the opposite party to concede to their demands. This includes a handful of immoral acts, which at first began with poisoning the tribe's dogs. When asked about whether or not Richie liked doing what he was doing, he informed Billy that he loved it. His lack of morality and thirst for vengeance became much more clear after one of his accomplices was murdered, prompting him to cause mass destruction and putting many people's lives at risk. Even after he relayed his debt to Billy, he still remained on friendly terms with him, demonstrating his loyalty as a friend.
Richie was briefly shown to be a womanizer during a scene at his family's restaurant, as seen when he was swooning over two women.
Biography[]
At the beginning of the film, Richie was in a court room while his attorney, Billy Halleck, worked to get him off free of any charges. Billy ended up being successful, and so the two celebrated on Richie's yacht. Richie assured Billy that he would repay him for helping him with the trial.
Richie was seen again at his family's restaurant when Billy called him to ask about Gypsy curses. Richie asked his mother whom was from an older country, who revealed that they were real and that the only way for a curse to be removed was for the person who gave it to remove it. Billy thanked Richie and told him that he would call him back.
Billy eventually called Richie back and told him that he needed his help to get the curse removed. He eventually met up with him at his hotel room, becoming upset at the state of him. The two of them discussed the curse as well as Billy's suspicions that his wife was having an affair with his doctor. That night, the two of them drove to the Gypsy's camp, there Richie went out and poisoned the dogs that they held fights with, leaving a message that said "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF". Later that night, Richie met up with a man in a gustation parking lot and hired him to gather intel on the people at the Gypsy's campfire. Billy asked Richie on the ride home if he liked what he was doing, to which Richie responded that he loved it.
The next day, Richie receive a call from the man he hired, who relayed the information that he had gathered. Later that day, Richie received a package which turned out to be firearms and other weaponry. The soon discovered a car outside containing the man who helped them's body and a warning message scrolled across it in blood. This caused Richie to become very angry, and although Billy began to protest, Richie insisted that he knew what he was doing. Later that night he again snuck into the camp. When he got there, he took Gabe Romani as a hostage, knocking him out and bounding his body. He then began to open fire on the camp, causing lots of destruction. They retaliated, but were unable to stop him. Eventually he stopped firing, and attached a similar note from earlier to Gabe's body, setting him free after he did. Unfortunately, Gabe was killed because he was believed to have been Richie.
The next day, Richie came back to the camp disguised as an FBI agent and approached Gina Lempke about the events that unfolded last night. Richie tricked her into thinking that he had the man responsible, showing her a picture of Billy. This prompted her to trust him, and so she followed him to a place that he told her they were keeping the suspect. When they got there, Richie pulled her into a nearby barn and revealing who he really was. He then pushed her to the ground and splashed a mild acid on her face. She screamed and began to fight back, Billy arriving to tell Richie not to murder her. Richie obliged, but continued to fight her, slamming her head into a metal pole. He then took out a jar of more powerful acid, telling her to remain still and placing it on her forehead. While she struggled to carefully remove it, he and Billy escaped in their car.
Richie later brought Billy to a place where Tadzu told them he would meet them to get the curse taken off. Billy thanked Richie, and the both embraced before Billy left to the bench.
Gallery[]
Richie at his trial.
Richie on his yacht.
Richie at his family's restaurant.
Richie eeting with Billy.
Richie talking with Billy in the bathroom.
Richie talking with Billy in his car.
Richie hiring someone to spy on the camp.
Richie talking on the phone with the man he hired.
Richie receiving the gun he ordered.
Richie knocking out Gabe.
Richie firing into the camp.
Richie talking to Gina while disguised as a detective.
Richie throwing acid on Gina's face.
Richie saying goodbye to Billy.
Trivia[]
Richie's ancestral roots were revealed to be from another country, as he referred to his mother as coming from the "old country". The country in question is unknown. Because he had to ask his mother about information regarding it, he is most likely a second-generation immigrant. Richie was revealed to be able to speak the language from this unnamed country when he spoke to his mother.
Despite the film's themes revolving around justice, Richie was able to evade any consequences for his immoral acts of cruelty and violence. Gina stated that Richie would die for what he had done to them, but whether or not he would actually receive punishment is unknown. Although the novel differs substantially from the film in several aspects, it confirms that the Gypsies did kill Richie, leaving his hand in Billy's front seat.
