Main Cast: Steve Zahn, Salma Hayek, Jeff Goldblum, Lara Flynn Boyle, Tom Wilkinson
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In this independent comedy, a man finds stolen treasure cannot change his bad luck. A luckless barber (Steve Zahn), despondent over his life's downhill slide, is considering suicide when he comes across a stash of rare and valuable coins. But the coins turn out to be stolen, and before long, an increasing number of strange people are after him, the coins, and each other, including hired thief Avnet (Jeff Goldblum). The barber's confusion isn't helped when he finds himself falling for Sgt. Meredith Kolko (Salma Hayek), a centerfold-turned-police detective who is investigating the theft. The film's supporting cast includes Orlando Jones, Michael Rapaport, David Hyde Pierce, and Claudia Schiffer. Shot under the title Shiny New Enemies, Chain of Fools is the first feature directed by Pontus Löwenhielm and Patrick Von Krusenstjerna, members of the Swedish filmmaking collective Traktor, best known for their innovative television commercials, including the Miller Beer "Presented By Dick" campaign. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Gary Frutkoff - Art Director, Mary Claire Hannan - Costume Designer, Traktor - Director, Harvey Rosenstock - Editor, Steven E. Reuther - Executive Producer, Charles X. Block - Executive Producer, Traktor - Executive Producer, John Murphy - Composer (Music Score), David A. Hughes - Composer (Music Score), Frederick Elmes - Cinematographer, Steven E. Reuther - Producer, Happy Walters - Producer, Matthew Weaver - Producer, Tony Lord - Producer, Tim Walston - Sound/Sound Designer, Bix Skahill - Screenwriter
Chain of Fools (also known by its production title Shiny New Enemies) is a 2000 heist comedy/romance film about a hapless barber named Kresk (Steve Zahn).
Plot
Thomas Kresk is a loser—he isn't good at his job, he's been tossed out of his home, and his wife just dumped him for the marriage counselor. Now he's depressed, and contemplating suicide. And yes, things get worse: a criminal named Avnet (Jeff Goldblum) has stolen three priceless coins, and decided to blackmail Bollingsworth (Tom Wilkinson), his billionaire partner in crime. After Kresk overhears this, he almost gets shot—and Avnet ends up impaled on a pair of barbers' scissors.
Now Kresk is in a considerably nastier situation, so he steals the gun and the coins. But things take a sharp turn when he hires a hit man named Mikey (Elijah Wood), and discovers that the hit man is only seventeen and emotionally traumatized by his parents' suicide. And that Kresk is falling for the cop/Playboy model Sgt. Meredith Kolko (Salma Hayek), and that his nephew Scottie (Devin Drewitz) has now swallowed the coins. Now Kresk is in over his head, and has to deal with the strange and sometimes dangerous people around him.
Crew
Chain of Fools was written by Bix Skahill and directed by an entity known as "Traktor." This is not, in fact, a single person, but a Swedish production team consisting of five directors and two producers.
