YouHeart I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

classicsoncall I read the Elmore Leonard novel "Get Shorty" about a year ago and recall that keeping track of the players as the story went on tended to be a bit difficult. The movie, which seemed to follow the book pretty closely, made the character identification a bit easier since most of the main ones were handled by a well known actor or actress. Still, it's easy to get confused once the action gets going because people move in and out of scenes fairly quickly, and some that you expect to have a major role wind up being ancillary characters.Like Leo Devoe (David Paymer) for instance. Since it was his three hundred thousand dollar swindle that opened the story, you would think he'd be the main focus, but he really wasn't on screen that much, while his bundle wound up trading hands more than once. There's also a neat red herring thrown into the picture when Bear's (James Gandolfini) little daughter picked up Yayo's (Jacob Vargas) discarded envelope from the top of the trash bin at the airport. If you were concentrating on that minor development expecting it to mean something, you'd have been wrong. Nothing ever came of that situation.Which is to say, you better be prepared to pay attention to this flick or you could wind up in left field pretty quickly. I thought Travolta did a nice job as the mob strong arm Chili Palmer, attempting to trade up to the movie business. Always thinking ahead, that was a pretty slick move with the C-17 locker to divert the FBI's attention away from him. It turns out he really was a lot smarter than Barboni (Dennis Farina); gee, Bones should have saw the pinch coming ahead of time but I guess greed does that to a wise guy.Anyway, this was a creative caper flick coming from the mind of Elmore Leonard, better known for his Western stories and novels, so this excursion into gangland was a nifty diversion. Since I picked this flick up at my local library, what I think I'll do now is put in a request for Karen Flores' (Russo) two starring roles - 'I Married a Ghoul' and 'The Atomic Mummy'.Say, did anybody wind up getting the money?

sol- Sent to Hollywood to collect a debt, a film-obsessed mobster seizes on an opportunity to become a movie producer himself in this star-studded crime comedy populated by some truly kooky characters. Dennis Farina is especially memorable as a fellow mobster who keeps getting scarred by the protagonist, but the film is most propelled by the charisma that John Travolta brings to the lead role, constantly telling others to look directly at him in an intimidating manner. Travolta's love of cinema is a nice touch too with a great scene in which he watches 'Touch of Evil', quoting the dialogue word for word, and some funny business as 'Rio Bravo' and 'El Dorado' are confused. Travolta also offers an interesting comment on 'Touch of Evil', claiming that "sometimes you do your best work when you have a gun to your head". It is worth mentioning that this is a film that works better the second time round. The one-joke nature of the premise is disappointing at first with the very blatant comparison drawn between Hollywood producers and mobsters never all that funny, but there is a lot more to the film than just that and a second viewing helps to appreciate how well everything flows. Whatever the case, the film is engaging whenever focused on the gangster-like elements of filmmaking, Gene Hackman is very effective as a timid producer caught up in the mess and the ending (if not wholly original) is pitch perfect.

Predrag Through the course of the movie, parallels are drawn that depict the Hollywood work ethic as being similar to the type of mob work Chili is involved with. These amusing comparisons play themselves throughout the film, with classically stereotyped roles by an outstanding cast that range from the slimy director/producer to the Colombian drug-lord. In fact, it is the characters and the dialogue between these characters that make the movie outstanding. There is Chili Palmer (John Travolta), arguably one of the last true gangsters in the old tradition, whose speech and actions are undeniably cool and cutting. As a contrast to Chili, there is his boss, Ray Bones (Dennis Farina), who is a curt, abrasive character that is always looking for a way to one-up whoever he is dealing with. He is the type of person that wields more power than he actually possesses, creating several memorable scenes between his laughable character and Chili's perpetual coolness. Then there is the slimy director, Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), a second rate director of B horror movies, whose interactions with Chili show us a less professional view of Hollywood. There is also the pompous, egocentric actor Martin Weir (Danny De Vito), who makes us laugh at the lifestyle of the Hollywood star. All of the characters in Get Shorty show us an amusing side of Hollywood that is simultaneously paying homage to and poking fun at movies.There are two problems with this movie. While I did find the storyline entertaining, I did find it extremely confusing to keep up with the specific "details" of the story - namely who is who and who did what. Perhaps this traces back to the original Elmore Leonard novel for which this book is based on. I usually prefer my films at a "simpler" level - and I think that would have helped this story. The other problem is that I found the ending to be weak. While I think this movie does a very good job at not "dragging out" the ending, I ultimately found the ending a bit anti-climatic. It was an ultimate let-down to a movie that despite the confusing "details" of the plot, does provide an entertaining edge. All in all, this is a very well made movie. The actors are wonderful, the homage paid to prior films of it's ilk are subtle, yet, crafted skillfully, and the cinematography and music perfectly compliment the film flow and style.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

poe426 Arguably one of the funniest movies about the machinations of movie-making, courtesy of the late Elmore Leonard. John Travolta is laid-back cool as Chili Palmer and Dennis Farini as Ray "Bones" is near to bursting with pent-up resentment; but theirs aren't the only noteworthy performances in the film: Gene Hackman as schlockmeister Harry Zimm, a movie producer of very few scruples, and Delroy Lindo as a loan-sharking dealer in narcotics who's dying to produce a movie in Hollywoodland, deliver the goods as well. Sonnenfeld's direction couldn't be improved upon (at least, not in my opinion). To hear these characters- especially the career criminals, like Travolta and Lindo- talk at length about movies is worth the price of admission (and I thought so back when I saw this one when it was first released). Hackman offers this tidbit to Travolta: "I once asked this literary agent what kind of writing paid the best. He said, 'Ransom notes.'" Later, having sat through a showing of TOUCH OF EVIL, Travolta tells Rene Russo: "Sometimes you do your best work when you got a gun to your head."