Tough Guys Don’t Dance 1987

Tim Madden is left reeling a month after his party-obsessed wife, Patty Lareine, walked out on him. His father, Dougy Madden, arrives with a blunt confession: he’s stopped chemotherapy because, as he puts it, >“tough guys don’t dance.” Tim himself is hiding a troubling secret—there are parts of two murdered bodies in his cellar, and he’s plagued by blackouts and unsettling visions that blur the line between memory and madness.

The morning after, Tim recalls a night five days prior that began with cocaine, a messy fling with Jessica Pond in front of her partner Lonnie Pangborn, and a startling discovery: bloody clothes in his car and a new tattoo bearing the first name of his former girlfriend, Madeleine Regency. The new Provincetown police chief, Luther Regency, now Madeleine’s husband, warns Tim to clear out his marijuana stash from the woods before state troopers swoop in. Tim heads to the stash and uncovers a severed head hidden among the drugs. Luther later reveals that Lonnie has killed himself and Jessica is missing.

Flashbacks trace Tim’s path to these tangled problems. He first met Madeleine while working as a bartender, and then he crossed paths with Patty after encouraging Madeleine to swing with Patty and her then-husband, Big Stoop. Patty promises a ruthless future: rid of Big Stoop, marry a rich man for money, and then marry Tim so he can pursue his writing dreams. The couple’s plans fracture the moment their trip back ends in a car crash that leaves Madeleine infertile. Tim slides back into Patty’s orbit after a stint in prison for dealing cocaine; she marries her affluent classmate, Wardley Meeks III, and Patty hires Tim as her chauffeur. Tim testifies to help Patty secure a hefty settlement as their divorce looms.

Yesterday’s events unfold with chilling clarity. Madeleine warns Tim that Luther Regency is having an affair with Patty and hints at a scheme to kill them both. Regency then tells Tim that he suspects Patty and Wardley have lured Lonnie and Jessica to Provincetown with $2 million to buy cocaine from Tim, and he insinuates that Tim killed Lonnie and Jessica. Tim checks his stash again and finds two severed heads—Patty’s and Jessica’s. He’s ambushed by Spider and Stoodie on his way home but escapes with the heads intact.

Back in the present, Dougy identifies the remains and disposes of them at sea. Tim is kidnapped at gunpoint by Wardley, who confesses to sending Spider and Stoodie to attack him and to killing them both. Wardley escorts Tim to Helltown, where they, along with Patty and Jessica, are buried, and Wardley tells his side of the story.

Patty and Regency had sent Jessica and Lonnie to buy cocaine from Regency, but Jessica shoots Lonnie when he threatens to run off with the money. When Patty and Regency arrive, Jessica threatens to expose them, and Patty shoots Jessica. Regency seizes the money, hides Jessica’s head, and then sleeps with Patty. Later, Wardley shoots Patty after she reveals there was never cocaine and that they were blackmailing him for another $10 million.

After laying out his account, Wardley shoots himself. Tim returns home to Madeleine waiting outside, and they share a cautious kiss. Inside, a drunk Regency admits to framing Tim in revenge for what happened with Madeleine and to being in love with Patty. Tim tells him Patty is dead; Regency suffers a stroke. While he lies recovering, Regency taunts Madeleine as inferior to Patty, and Madeleine shoots him. Tim and Dougy then dispose of the five bodies at sea, and Madeleine uses the $2 million to buy a house for themselves, closing a brutal chapter with a rocky, uneasy peace.