Dominick and Eugene is a 1988 drama film directed by Robert M. Young about twin brothers, Dominick and Eugene. Dominick has an intellectual disability due to an accident in his youth. The film was directed by Robert M. Young, and stars Ray Liotta, Tom Hulce, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Hulce received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance (Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama).
Plot
Dominick "Nicky" (Hulce) and Eugene "Gino" (Liotta) Luciano are twin brothers living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Nicky has a learning disability from his youth and Gino is the one that takes care of him and helps him get through life. Gino is studying to become a doctor at a local hospital and cannot finish his education in Pittsburgh, he is afraid that Nicky cannot take care of himself and that he depends on Eugene to look after him. Nicky has a job working for a garbage collection company, one of the few things he is capable of doing and remembering how. He and a man named Larry (Todd Graff) work under an African American man named Mr. Johnson, Larry is constantly taking advantage of Nicky's disability by taunting him.
Eugene begins helping a nurse named Jennifer (Curtis), who is working at the same hospital as him, study for her exams. He begins to develop feelings for her as the movie progresses. Nicky mentions this to Larry while they are working and Larry does not miss the opportunity to plant the idea in Nicky's head that Jennifer and Eugene are sleeping together.
On the night of his and Nicky's birthday, Eugene must work late at the hospital and calls a very disappointed Nicky to tell him. Nicky instead starts to take Larry to the monster truck show he and Eugene were going to see. Larry instead takes Nicky with him to a woman called Mrs. Vincent that Larry has fun with now and again. Nicky does not engage in sexual intercourse with Mrs. Vincent and instead goes outside as Larry has fun with her inside. Nicky is surprised to find a young boy named Mikey Chernak, who is Mrs. Vincent's next door neighbour and also someone he knows from his garbage route, outside with bruises on his face. When Nicky asks where the bruises are from Mikey replies he fell. Nicky does not understand that it is Mikey's father Martin (David Strathairn) that abuses him and assumes Mikey is telling the truth.
Larry and Nicky go bar-hopping and both get very drunk, all the while Larry constantly and drunkenly taunts Nicky about Eugene's relationship with Jennifer. Nicky stumbles home and finds Jennifer and Eugene sitting and talking. Nicky believes they are sleeping together and tells Eugene that he knows he is 'screwing' Jennifer. Eugene gets very angry and roughly shoves Nicky before sending him to bed. A insulted Jennifer leaves.
Later, Nicky, Eugene, Jennifer and Mrs. Gianelli who lives next door go on a picnic and bring Nicky's dog Fred. Fred is hit by a car, greatly disturbing Nicky. Several days later, Nicky is collecting garbage at Mikey's house and through the window views Martin hitting Mikey and forcing him down the stairs. The father shoves him too hard and sends the boy to the bottom of the stairs. The father races to the phone and calls 911, telling them the boy fell. The father sees a shocked Nicky through the window as Larry and Mr. Johnson find Nicky by the window. The father lies and says Mikey fell, both are concerned and soon neighbours, including Mrs Vincent and Threasa, Mikey's mother arrive to the scene. An ambulance appears and takes Mikey to the hospital.
Nicky runs to the hospital where Martin drags him into a closet and tells him that Mikey is dead, and that if he tells anybody what he did, he will kill Nicky also. A horrified Nicky flees. Later on, Nicky takes a gun from Mr. Johnson's truck (which Larry was seen with earlier in the film to kill rats at the junkyard) and goes back to the home of Martin and his wife Theresa where both them and a gathering of neighbours and friends grieve. Nicky steals a baby, Mikey's younger brother Joey, from his parents at gunpoint and runs away believing he is protecting the baby from the father. He is eventually cornered in a building where a SWAT Team surrounds the place.
Eugene and Jennifer as well as Martin and Theresa race to the building. Eugene is sent in to get Nicky and the baby out. He goes in and is confronted by Nicky who now believes after seeing the domestic abuse of Mikey that their father did the same to him and that is why he is mentally challenged. Eugene breaks down and admits that it is true. Yet, he also reveals that despite this it was always Nicky standing up to their father and always protecting Eugene. He tells of how one night their father got really mad at Eugene and that Nicky took the beating instead of Eugene and that is why Nicky is mentally challenged. A sobbing Eugene tells Nicky he does not want to become like their father and he is at times afraid of himself and how he gets mad at Nicky. Nicky comforts him and tells him that he is not and that he loves him.
They exit the building and hand the baby, Joey, over to Theresa. Eugene protests as the police handcuff Nicky. Martin races forward with a gun and aims for Nicky. Eugene and two police officers manage to subdue him. Nicky tells everyone of how Martin abused Mikey and how he killed him. A horrified Theresa tells that she suspected it might be based on past experience. Nicky is released and the father is sent to jail.
At the end, Eugene kisses Jennifer as she leaves for medical school and she says she will leave a number with Nicky. The twins embrace one last time and then Eugene also leaves. The credits roll as Nicky goes on his daily garbage route, happily embracing the future with content and a new understanding of himself.
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