The Tip of a Lifetime
| The Tip of a Lifetime | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Pierre Chaput |
| Produced by | Pierre Chaput |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Maxim Gausteau |
| Edited by | Owen Liamson |
| Music by | Victor Casterly |
Release dates |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | Meridon |
| Language | Seurian |
| Budget | 2.4 million |
| Box office | 244.1 million |
The Tip of a Lifetime is a 1992 Meridonian comedy and action film directed by Pierre Chaput. Derived from Chaput's inspiration upon chancing upon the Marquesan royal yacht Grâce Azur III at sea, the film stars Obadiah Lindsey as Tobias Jungles, a twenty-two year old pizza deliveryman in Alanstown, Alexandria Territory, who receives an order to deliver pizza to the Marquesan emperor himself on his yacht at sea.
The film was Chaput's second released to theaters, but was the first of his movies to receive critical acclaim. The movie was delayed and reworked a number of times as investors increased the film's initial $200,000 budget to a multimillion dollar project. The film was a massive success at the box office, grossing a total of $344.1 million MD and placing it as the fourth highest-grossing film of 1992, and it was subsequently rereleased in theaters internationally.
Plot
Somewhere in Alanstown, Tobias Jungles, a twenty-two year old working as a pizza deliveryman at Molty's Pizza Ristorante, is berated by the restaurant's manager and owner, Gervaiso 'Greasy' Moltisanti, for failing to meet the 'tip quotas' imposed on his deliverymen. Told that he would be fired should he not reach this week's quota, Tobias, distracted by the figure of a passing female customer, hurriedly accepts a delivery order for a singular meatlovers pizza to be delivered to the Grâce Azur III. He is shocked to hear the voice of the Marquesan emperor (who is not named) offer him 'the tip of a lifetime' should he manage to deliver a meal 'worthy of his most imperial tastebuds'.
Managing to secure a ride from daredevil Anagonian pilot Billy Skinner who is convinced the royal yacht is housing a long-lost dragon (who he intends to court in what he calls a 'love quest'), the pair commandeer a helicopter and fly towards the yacht, whose escorting warships are baited away after Tobias implies to them over the radio that another ship thought they looked like pansies, inducing them to seek revenge. Mistaking a passing whale for an undersea dragon, Skinner exits the helicopter mid-flight to pursue it, leaving the frazzled Tobias to frantically search for an escape before the helicopter impacts a comically large Marquesan flag, which lowers the now-stopped aircraft to a halt. Exiting the helicopter, Tobias is introduced to the Meridonian-born deadpan maid Cherry Aires, whose name is both a play on the Meridonian term 'cherie' as well as 'derriere'- the latter of which comes from the fact that her large buttocks are indiscreet and alert a passing troupe of guards to their presence, who are only defeated when Tobias throws one of the Emperor's prized motorcycles overboard and they leap to save it, drowning when their waterlogged and overly-large capes weigh them down.
Cherry reveals the Emperor is on a diet after his wife discovered he had grown fond of Anagonian and Meridonian fast food cuisines, and his guards and staff are forbidden from allowing him to snack on pain of being relegated to eating Neo-Korean cuisine instead. She recalls the time she was forced to eat motor oil and cockroach soup herself and agrees to help deliver the pizza if Tobias will assist her in returning home. Tobias agrees, and the pair proceed into the depths of the vessel, overcoming meth-fueled Merchant's Guild traders attempting to barter for Tobias' shoelaces, sharks who are only placated when fed caviar from the ship's self-grown stocks, and finally the Empress herself, whom Cherry defeats by asking paradoxical questions and causing her head to explode, revealing she was actually two Neo-Korean spies piloting a mech suit- who promptly flee by utilizing a propeller hat to fly into the distance.
The pair finally reach the Emperor's throne room with the pizza intact- only to find that his order for a "piece of toast with a vegemite" was mistaken for "pizza pie with a ton of meat". The film cuts to Tobias' return to the restaurant and his subsequent firing and exit from the store. Cherry is waiting for him on the same motorcycle that had been thrown overboard. He hops on as he remarks with the closing quote- "If you want the tip of a lifetime from me, mate- leave them cooky royals be;" before riding off into the city streets.
Cast
- Obadiah Lindsey as Tobias Jungles, a twenty-two year old deliveryman working part-time at a pizza restaurant.
- Sienna Beahan as Cherry Aires, a stoic, large-reared Meridonian-born maid of the Marquesan royals who assists Tobias.
- Ava Hamblin as the Marquesan Empress, a self-proclaimed 'health nut' and vegan who serves as the film's main antagonist, later revealed to be a mechanical copy.
- Leon Stevens as the Marquesan Emperor
- Flynn Quinne as Billy Skinner, an Anagonian zoophile and pilot on a "love quest' to find a mythical dragon believed housed in the Marquesan yacht.
- Vasco Margiotta as Gervaiso 'Greasy' Moltisanti, the sleazy and abusive owner of Molty's Pizza Ristorante and Tobias' employer.
- Aoki Gyokusho and Cho Saza as Neo-Korean Spy One and Two
Production
The film was initiated at Chaput's own initiative with his own funding as a relatively low-budget film, but as production ramped on parts of the film were reshot several times owing to increased investor interest in the film allowing for more comprehensive cinematography. Principal photography was shot in Alanstown and in the ocean off of western Alexandria Territory, with vehicles rented or donated by friends of Chaput.
Release and reception
The Tip of a Lifetime would be the first Meridonian film to be shown (admittedly, after being edited) in Neo-Korea since the Great War, becoming something of a staple film for comedic events. The Neo-Korean cut maintains much of the same pacing and comedic direction, including the joke about Neo-Korean cuisine consisting of motor oil, but replaces the scene of the queen being revealed to be a mech suit for two infiltrators with a scene of the queen’s head violently ripping itself from its body and flying away using a propeller hat- leaving the headless body shooting sparks.