Keys to Tulsa is a 1997 American crime film directed by Leslie Greif in his directorial debut, written by Harley Peyton, and starring Eric Stoltz and James Spader. It is based on the 1991 novel by Brian Fair Berkey.
Plot[]
The story revolves around a perpetual loser and slacker named Richter Boudreau. Richter is from a privileged background in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and works as a movie reviewer at a local newspaper only because his sour widowed mother Cynthia pulled strings for him to land the job. He is dissatisfied with the direction that his life has taken; he is about to be fired any day from his job because he can't meet deadlines, he lives in a dilapidated farmhouse, he uses and sells drugs behind the scenes for some extra cash, and he is so irresponsible with life and finances in which he has gotten so far behind on his bills that his electricity has just been cut off which ruins a blind date he has in the opening scene with a neurotic gold-digger named Trudy.
Richter also owes money to Ronnie Stover, an abusive drug dealer who he deals with. Ronnie is married to Vicky, a beautiful woman who was disowned by her socially prominent family for her involvement with Ronnie. Richter is still in love with Vicky despite having ended their relationship many years before. Vicky is the sister of Keith, a misogynistic alcoholic whose large inheritance fails to soothe his anger, loneliness, and depression. Cherry is an exotic dancer from Chicago who buys drugs from Ronnie and gets romantically involved with Richter.
Richter learns that Ronnie plans to blackmail Bedford Shaw, the son of a socially prominent businessman named Harmon Shaw, after Cherry tells Richter that Bedford Shaw murdered her friend, a stripper/prostitute, in a motel room and that she took photographs. Ronnie attempts to involve Richter by having him hold on to a mysterious black pouch and by exploiting Richter's newspaper connections. Richter wants no part of the blackmail scheme. But he gets in over his head when Keith discovers that Richter has been sleeping with Vicky.
Cast[]
- Eric Stoltz as Richter Boudreau
- James Spader as Ronnie Stover
- Deborah Kara Unger as Vicky Michaels Stover
- Joanna Going as Cherry
- Michael Rooker as Keith Michaels
- Randy Graff as Louise Brinkman
- Mary Tyler Moore as Cynthia Boudreau
- James Coburn as Harmon Shaw
- Peter Strauss as Chip Carlson
- Cameron Diaz as Trudy
- Marco Perella as Bedford Shaw
- Dennis Letts as Preston Liddy
- Josh Ridgway as Billy Boudreau