Get Shorty

Rating:
Summary: Smarter & more entertaining than any film has a right to be
Review: Why this film didn't get any Oscar nominations is easy to see. It's way too smart for its own good, and cuts just a little too close to the bone than any Hollywood type would care to admit. Based on a terrific Elmore Leonard novel, Get Shorty forces the viewer to listen intently to the characters as the action moves around them and their world comes into being through it, in a similar fashion to Bogart's The Maltese Falcon & Grant's His Girl Friday. The art of listening is increasingly lost on today's viewers, which is why many people just don't get the many subtleties and nuances liberally peppered throughout this masterpiece. And the actors just flow into their roles, looking as comfortable in them as you would in your favourite pair of jeans. John Travolta as the transplanted Miami gangster Chili Palmer is cool personified, while Gene Hackman appears suitably flustered as the harried movie producer who suddenly realizes he's in WAY over his head. Cameos abound and are a bunch of fun to watch. In fact, this whole film was so much fun, I bought my own copy! Do yourself a favour and rent it tonight.

Rating:
Summary: Look at me...
Review: "Get Shorty" is a humdinger of a movie - smart, funny, and VERY full of itself...kinda like its "hero", Chili Palmer.

Every character and performance hits all the right notes, starting with John Travolta's right-on portrayal of Palmer, a loan shark who has tired of the mob business and would like to try his hand at a REAL mob business: the movies.

Palmer isn't a bad guy; he's just all business, which certain characters (especially Ray Bones) should have figured out early on. But they don't, and we get to see Chili eliminate his enemies one by one through sheer guile and smarts. In particular, his payback on Bones is an absolute classic.

One of the film's truly great pleasures is watching great actors like Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito try to play Chili. Hackman's performance gets him a very unwelcome audience with Bones ("I heard you shot the guy four times in the chest and once in the foot"), while DeVito's simply doesn't work, and by the end of the movie Chili is looking to "get" someone other than "shorty".

Also look for James Gandolfini in his best pre-Tony Soprano role as an ex-stuntman.

Rating:
Summary: The worst movie ever created by man
Review: This movie was a waste of money. Only good part was that one guy saying the F word a lot. This movie is dull, boring, and is slow developing. I took this DVD and broke it into pieces after I watched it, I had more fun breaking this DVD than watching it. For anyone who is going to buy this DVD I warn you, it is a retarded movie, and waste of your money.

Rating:
Summary: SLICK AND COOL
Review: John Travolta, Rene Russo and Delroy Lindo are all slick and cool in this mobster comedy about Hollywood. Chili Palmer (Travolta) goes to Hollywood to escape a fouled mouthed mobster (Dennis Farina) and ends up helping out movie producer Harry Zim (Gene Hackman) and mingling with movie star Martin Weir (Danny DeVito). He also has to mess with a suave gangster name Bo (Lindo) and his sidekick stuntsman Bear (James Gandolphini). Very action packed, very funny, and great music as well. Also stars Bette Midler, Harvey Keitel and Penny Marshall.

Rating:
Summary: Get Shorty - ** Stars
Review: If there was a more overpraised movie in 1995 than "Get Shorty," this reviewer didn't see it. Not that "Shorty" is awful; it's a mediocre-to-amusing gangsters-in-Hollywood comedy that plays like "Pulp Fiction" crossed with "Guys and Dolls." But the glow-in-the-dark accolades awarded "Shorty" by American film critics seem far from justified by what's onscreen.
In a wonderful performance that both solidifies his comeback and anchors the film, John Travolta plays Chili Palmer, a Mob debt collector who arrives in Los Angeles in pursuit of a couple of welshers. Officially he's come to put the squeeze on a nebbishy dry cleaner who faked his death to collect $300,000. But, as a favor to a Vegas tipster, Chili agrees to find a low-budget, Sam Arkoff-esque horror movie producer named Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), who's in hock to the casinos. As much to deflect Chili's attention as anything else, Zimm starts talking to Palmer about the movie biz. Before you know it, a strange kind of partnership starts forming between the hard-luck B-picture king and the moviestruck mobster....
There's a great movie to be made out of the idea of gangsters in modern-day Hollywood but, despite Travolta's winning presence, this ain't it. The inside jokes about celebrity eating habits, etc., fly thick and fast, yet there's no bite to the satire, because virtually every Hollywood character is simply self-important or inept. The best joke would have been if the mobster found that his own criminal code of ethics was too saintly for what may be the most amoral and backbiting company town on earth.
Barry Sonnenfeld directs in a joshing and lugubrious manner that completely deflates dramatic possibilities. Even when major characters are beaten or have guns pointed at them, there's never a sense of menace or danger. In addition to Travolta's fine turn, producer Danny De Vito and Spike Lee- regular Delroy Lindo are both terrific, and Rene Russo has never looked more ravishing onscreen. But, as Runyon's Nathan Detroit might have put it, it don't add up. A good rental title but just an okay night at the movies, "Get Shorty" deserves a critical legbreaker of its own for squandering so much rich talent on what turns out to have been a sucker's bet.

Rating:
Summary: You Just Got to Get "Get Shorty"!
Review: "Get Shorty " in my opinion is one of the most hilarious send ups of the Hollywood movie industry ever put to film.Director, Barry Sonnenfeld and writer, Elmore Leonard have put their talents together to create a satirical film, which 'takes no prisoners' in its look at the underhanded ways, that folks wheel and deal to get movies made.The film centers on a charismatic mobster (John Travolta), who while on a trip to L.A., decides to switch careers. He wants to make movies!This is not as far fetched as it seems. Apparently being a movie producer isn't that far of a jump from being a loan shark or racketeer! Along the way Chilly meets up with with a schlock movie producer, a scream queen, a L.A. hood and his henchman, another mobster from Miami and finally the 'Shorty' (a self-involved, superstar actor)of the film's title. All of them underestimate Chilly and think he is just a dumb hood, who can be conned out of some major, illegal money waiting in a locker at the L.A. airport. But Chilly seems to know all the right moves and plays everyone at their own game.Writer, Elmore Leonard wrote this fast paced, witty story after experiencing a real life, frustrating job of trying to write a script for vertically challenged actor, Dustin Hoffman... Revenge must be sweet, because it inspired a great piece of comic writing.The cast of actors in this movie is wonderful. Normally, I'm not the biggest John Travolta fan, but his take on mobster, Chilly Palmer is electrifying. Travolta plays the character with a swagger, confindence, and a smile that is sheer perfection! Gene Hackman is also hilarious as the sleaziest of sleazy Hollywood producers. This guy would sell out his own mother if it ment getting a piece of the gross!.Finally, Danny DeVito just makes this movie with his send up of every spoiled rotten, self-indulgent Hollywood actor that could ever come to mind. Kudos should also go for great, comic supporting roles from James Gandolfini and Dennis Farina.For an evening of some very funny Hollywood satire, I recommend you to get..."Get Shorty"!

Rating:
Summary: Chili Palmer: Shylock, Movie Producer
Review: A loan shark from Florida, who loves movies and winds up in Hollywood on a collection job, decides to take a shot at the movie business while he's there, in "Get Shorty," directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Dark humor and richly textured characters drive this story of Chili Palmer (John Travolta), the shylock from Miami Beach who aspires to a life beyond keeping a book for thugs, in this faithful adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel. When circumstances take him to Las Vegas to look for one Leo Devoe (David Paymer), a dry-cleaner in debt up to his eyeballs who blew town after an airline scam, Chili goes on to Hollywood to do a favor for the casino operator who tipped him off as to Leo's whereabouts. The "favor" is contacting film director Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) who has payment overdue on a note issued to him by the casino. Zimm has made a name for himself (at least in his own mind) by directing horror movies; but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Ultimately, Chili gets involved with Zimm and actress Karen Flores (Rene Russo), who has starred in some of Zimm's horror flicks, as well as with two time Academy Award nominee Martin Weir (Danny DeVito), the "shorty" of the title. Chili is finally in his element, but his Miami Beach days are not yet behind him; there's still some settling up to do according to one Ray "Bones" Barboni (Dennis Farina), owner of the book kept by Chili in Florida. Travolta not only goes the distance here, but creates a definitive character in Chili; even as Sean Connery is James Bond, and Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes, Travolta "is" Chili Palmer. With nuance and charisma, he does this guy from the inside out. He has the look and the mannerisms; he walks the walk and talks the talk. And nobody in the history of the cinema has used a cigarette as a prop better than he does in this movie. It's a commanding, Oscar-worthy performance, every bit as good (possibly even better) than the role of Vincent he created in "Pulp Fiction." His presence simply dominates the film, and he's up against some stiff competition, because this movie is filled with great characters. Not only Hackman, who does a terrific job as Zimm, but Russo, who sizzles, and DeVito, who adds some real flair as the "Movie Star," and Farina, whose toughness and lack of wit make him a memorable character. Also exceptional are Delroy Lindo, as Bo Catlett, a thug and wanna-be movie producer, James Gandolfini, as "Bear," a stuntman who works with Catlett, and Jon Gries as Ronnie, a "Hollywood" style tough guy who also works with Catlett. Sonnenfeld did a great job of bringing this world of "Get Shorty" to life. The story is interesting and delivered with outstanding dialogue and plenty of action, all of which Sonnenfeld keeps moving at a perfect pace and with impeccable timing. This is one thoroughly enjoyable, funny movie that absolutely begs for a sequel. In recommending it, I have to borrow one of Chili Palmer's best lines: "Look at me." Because that says it all. This is one movie you don't want to miss.

Rating:
Summary: are you out of your minds
Review: Anyone who gives this hunk of junk movie more than 1 star is either a moron or generously sympathetic.Then again 1 star is too much. AMAZON should incorperate a ZERO star selection.I bet the reviewers that raved about this one were payed to do so, and it could only have been in cash. Penny Marshall?? Uhggg!!! give me a break. She should have yelled CUT! before this was crap was made.An ex friend recommended this film. He wasn't an ex friend before I watched t it.

Rating:
Summary: A very fun movie!
Review: This is one of the cleverest comedies out there. John Travolta plays a bookie (Chili Palmer) in Miami Beach, FL. He is one of these respected hard nose, no BS type of people that just demands respect wherever he goes. But for a change of pace and a change of heart, not to mention money that is owned to him, he flies out to California. He is searching for a man who took a very large some of money, but in the mean time is caught up in the Hollywood movie making industry. He meets up and makes friends with Gene Hackman, a B movie director always looking for the next big break. Rene Russo plays a B movie washed up actress who is helping Travolta get into the movie industry. Mean while, old friends and enemies follow Travolta to the sunshine state to find out what he is up to and possibly move in on the action. This movie also has Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, cameo by Penny Marshall, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, and more twists and turns that you can imagine. If you are looking for a really fun comedy with lots of stars then this is the movie to get!

Rating:
Summary: One of the coolest movies EVER!
Review: Quentin Tarantino noted that the movie John Travolta did after "Pulp Fiction" was probably more important than "Pulp Fiction" with respect to his comeback in movies. This movie solidified John's popularity with his core audience. The movie is smart, irreverent, funny, satirical and just plain cool. If you watch it, note how the soundtrack is used to compliment the scenes. The score is almost like another actor in each scene. It is brought, forcefully, to the forefront of the scenes to provide color and depth. This rarely works in movies but it is done with considerable skill in "Get Shorty". Another "over the top" application is the product placement of the "Cadillac of Mini-Vans". They made no excuses and wrote the mini-van right into the script.
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.
Okay, it's pretty clear I really like this movie. Nice thing about movies, there are many different movies of all types to satisfy our different tastes. If you like smart, dark comedies then I think you'll love this one. Enjoy!