Rating: 
Summary: Slick and original
Review: A friend of mine told me about "Things to do in Denver..." a few years ago. For my birthday this year I recieved the DVD. While I love all of Quentin Tarantino's films, I don't believe any of his work can live up to a film such as this (with the exception of maybe "Pulp Fiction"). Andy Garcia plays Jimmy the Saint, an ex-mafioso that gets pulled back into the business by The Man With The Plan (Christopher Walken, that's the only name we get). To unfamiliar ears, the story might sound familar and worn out. It is not, in fact screenwriter Scott Rosenberg puts an entirely different spin on the plot, keeping this audience in suspense until the very last closing credit. This movie works on several different levels. First, the casting was phenonminal. Andy Garcia, Treat Williams, Christopher Lloyd, Bill Nunn, Gabrielle Anwar, William Forsythe and Christopher Walken comprise the ensemble cast. Second, Scott Rosenberg's irresistable knack for clever dialogue and twisted plots will always be a crowd pleaser. With "Things to do in Denver...", you simply cannot go wrong. Purchase the DVD and let us know what you think. If there were only a few more extras on the disc, I think I might add it as one of my faves.
Rating: 
Summary: Things to do at home when you're bored
Review: THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD does begin with somereally overt Tarantino-esque dialog and scene set up. Look at theingredients: black humor, B-list actors in "cool" roles (specifically Jack Warden), a chintzy malt shop and some crude-but-colorful dialog. ...Basic plot: Andy Garcia has retired from mob life to a little video-service company. This business isn't doing well, so the local mob boss makes Garcia an offer he can't refuse. Garcia meets the girl of his dreams, and gets a team of misfits together to pull off the job the mob boss has blackmailed him into. The job is botched, and the rest of the story ensues. This movie doesn't exactly jibe at first, and it takes it about 30 minutes to hit it's stride. Once it does, however, there are a lot of things to admire. The ensemble is great, especially William Forsythe, Treat Williams, Steve Buscemi (playing one of his trademark "indie" characters)and Christopher Lloyd. Fairuza Balk also gives a good performance of a mistreated hooker who wants to get out of "the life." Throughout, Garcia's character behaves out of duty, and numerous people tell him during the course of the movie that he's "noble." His acting job isn't Oscar-worthy, but he gives a quiet power to his role, and does manage to bring gravity to the movie. THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD turns out to be worth it. It's got some interesting (if hard-to-understand) dialog, atypical situations, light-handed black comedy, and some surprisingly touching moments. Despite some minor cracks, it's overall a solid movie. END
Rating: 
Summary: This movie is like a commercial...
Review: all stylish and aimed-to-please, until you realize that you are being had. So much style and so little substance. The only thing going for this flick is the fact that somehow the director/writer has each of these 10 characters legitimately vying for the honor of biggest d-bag to ever grace the screen. That takes some kind of talent at least. If any of these jerks hung out with a mutual friend, you would avoid your friend like the plague. And what's up with these catch phrases? They're obviously meant to be cool, but it would be cooler listening to a group of nerds talk amongst themselves at a pocket protector seminar. "Give it a name?" I can think of quite a few names to give it. And let's talk about the plot. Why's a well-off entrepreneur ex-mobster tough guy need to assemble a 'crew' to threaten a stoner? Can't a mob boss find someone a little more competent? My god, it's so asinine it's cracking me up right now.
If you have any taste, do not believe the close-to-5-star rating. This movie is comparable to thinking you lucked out getting a date with the coolest, hottest person in school only to find out later that evening that they don't wipe properly. It's not what it seems.
Rating:
Summary: A Lively Death in Denver
Review: THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD is more than just the best movie title in years; it's also a great movie. When his mob-sponsored 'warning' inadvertently becomes a hit, Jimmy the Saint finds he has 48 hours to come to internal peace, even if that is at someone else's death. But, with all its Tarantino and "THE USUAL SUSPECTS" type characters and dialogue, it lacks the twists and turns of those films. Andy Garcia (THE UNTOUCHABLES, THE GODFATHER III) easily carries the film, faring better than he does in Romantic Comedies. Supporting characters like Treat Williams (1941, HAIR), Christopher Lloyd (BACK TO THE FUTURE), William Forsythe (RAISING ARIZONA, DICK TRACY) and the always greasy Steve Buscemi (FARGO) are excellent as is Christopher Walken (VIEW TO A KILL, BATMAN RETURNS) as the 'head' of the organized crime center. Gabrielle Anwar is absolutely stunning and fills her role nicely, although as the romantic interest she gets too much screen time, a distraction from the more gripping murder tension. The film is creatively photographed and directed. Overall, the film is entertaining and could continue a nice directing career for Gary Felder (KISS THE GIRLS). The DVD has a nice widescreen transfer and a good audio mix.
Rating:
Summary: Things to do at home when you're bored
Review: THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD does begin with somereally overt Tarantino-esque dialog and scene set up. Look at theingredients: black humor, B-list actors in "cool" roles (specifically Jack Warden), a chintzy malt shop and some crude-but-colorful dialog. ...Basic plot: Andy Garcia has retired from mob life to a little video-service company. This business isn't doing well, so the local mob boss makes Garcia an offer he can't refuse. Garcia meets the girl of his dreams, and gets a team of misfits together to pull off the job the mob boss has blackmailed him into. The job is botched, and the rest of the story ensues. This movie doesn't exactly jibe at first, and it takes it about 30 minutes to hit it's stride. Once it does, however, there are a lot of things to admire. The ensemble is great, especially William Forsythe, Treat Williams, Steve Buscemi (playing one of his trademark "indie" characters)and Christopher Lloyd. Fairuza Balk also gives a good performance of a mistreated hooker who wants to get out of "the life." Throughout, Garcia's character behaves out of duty, and numerous people tell him during the course of the movie that he's "noble." His acting job isn't Oscar-worthy, but he gives a quiet power to his role, and does manage to bring gravity to the movie. THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD turns out to be worth it. It's got some interesting (if hard-to-understand) dialog, atypical situations, light-handed black comedy, and some surprisingly touching moments. Despite some minor cracks, it's overall a solid movie. END
Rating:
Summary: Post-Tarantino knock-off, tries too hard, has its moments...
Review: No, you've probably not heard of this movie before. Yes, there is probably a good reason for that (any number of movies like this came out in the year following "Pulp Fiction"). No, this movie is not a waste of your time. Yes, within a few minutes you will have a PERFECTLY clear understanding of the term "wanna-be". And NO, I do not plan on spending the rest of this review writing like this. An impressive gathering of character actors like this can mean only one thing: "Indie Cred" (or the desperate attempt to obtain it). And making a "stylish gangster movie" is probably the most obvious way to get there. Create some unusual (even disturbing) characters, write some slick dialogue, and add an air of inevitable doom to the atmosphere and you've pretty much captured the elements that made Quentin Tarantino a fortune and has enabled him to squander the talent that he has for the last 10 years. In this narrative tale (not entirely convincingly told by Jack Warden) we find the typical "trying-to-go-straight" but struggling career criminal (Andy Garcia) being enticed back to work for his former mob boss (Christopher Walken in the first of two memorable roles spent confined to a chair -see "Suicide Kings"). It's a simple job; "encourage" the boyfriend of the boss's son's ex-girlfriend to leave her, hoping that she'll give the boss's son (who is borderline psychotic, by the way) another chance. Garcia hooks up again with the assortment of characters who make up his former gang and everything goes wrong bigtime. Mob boss Walken is not amused, orders everyone killed, and the movie progresses from there. It's a lot like "2 Days in the Valley", actually...except it's in Denver. And Denver, I have to say, never having been there in person, looks like a charming city. The real reason to see this movie is to watch The Greatest Pick-Up Line Ever. Andy Garcia delivers it when he meets the hopelessy sexy Gabrielle Anwar, and even though you KNOW it's an obvious line, he pulls it off amazingly well. Definitely worth seeing. Worth owning if you dig the genre. And definitely worth owning if you're a Christopher Walken fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth 5 stars
Review: I am not going to delve into great details as many reviewers have already done so, but I will agree with most that this movie was well done and definitely worth adding to your dvd collection, if not at least seeing. I am hard pressed to recall how I originally heard about it, newspaper review possibly, but based on that alone I knew I had to catch this limited release screening. I do recall when this movie initially released it seemed as if it was already relegated to "cult" status because it opened with very little fanfare, in very limited locations, and only for a short viewing period. My wife and I saw it before we were married at a lesser known theater in Hollywood, not on the strip, where it was only playing for the weekend. As we walked out when it was over we were so blasted by what we had just seen we carefully scanned the street for suspicious looking cars that might contain tommy-gun weilding hitmen and then ran to our car!
All that said love this movie, get it, buy it, rent it, see it!
Rating:
Summary: a belated surprise
Review: I'm more than a little ashamed to admit that it took me 9 years to get around to seeing this movie. And I consider myself a lover of this type of pic. I just had a hard time coming across it in the usual retail outlets. But, alas I find the movie and I have to say it's just great....Sure, the dialogue does try to force feed some one liners and catchphrases at you..."Boat Drinks" and "Buckwheats" being just a couple...If you can somehow avoid cringing everytime they are less than smoothly inserted into the conversations, all the better. Andy Garcia does a good job of giving this movie an emotional and moral core, as the man straddling the line between good and evil, his past and his future all at once. Treat Williams gives an astounding performance as a complete loon. All in all everyone does well here. One must question the wisdom of Garcia's character allowing the oldest and the most unstable of the crew to perform the most demanding part of their seemingly simple task. Garcia himself and Winn would have been much better in that instance. O well, quibble I must, but I suppose if more capable hands (no pun intended) had done the job, this would have been a rather short movie.. But it's a great movie nonethe less. Flashes of brilliance, even.
Rating:
Summary: "I AM GODZILLA, YOU ARE JAPAN!!!"
Review: This is one of my new mob movie favorites. I mean, the storyline is great, the cast is awesome, and it brilliantly mixes comedy and drama. Treat Williams is both hilarious & repulsive, Christopher Walken is awesome as the evil "Man With the Plan". Walken has always been my favorite movie villian. Christopher Lloyd was surprisingly amazing. William Forsythe (Gotti) was much better in this than in Gotti. And of course, the highly underated Andy Garcia is one of the coolest gangsters in any movie! This movie has so many cool phrases like "Boat drinks" & "Give it a name", but my all-time favorite has got to be Treat Williams shouting,"I am Godzilla, you are Japan!" as he blasts away with a shotgun.
Rating:
Summary: Jimmy the Saint Rules
Review: Wow, this is probably the best gangster flick nobody knows.Andy Garcia,and Christopher Walken are fantastic.This is better than King of NewYork and Untouchables!Please watch this band of misfits try to get right before mobster Walken Fixes them all.Boat drinks, anyone?
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