Gunshy

Rating:
Summary: A whole lot more interesting than it seems
Review: The other reviews for this film notwithstanding, this is NOT the "Gun Shy" that stars Neeson and Platt. This particular film stars William Peterson ("Manhunter")as Jake Bridges, and Michael Wincott ("The Crow")as Frankie McGregor, in what appears to be a fairly cut-and-dried exercise. Jake, a down-and-out writer is befriended by Frankie, a collector for a local mob boss. Jake needs money and something to occupy his mind so he won't drink himself to death. Frankie wants an education.

The two of them not only click,they become very good friends, and Peterson falls in love with his friend's girlfriend Melissa, (Diane Lane "The Cotton Club")setting up your basic triangle. The rest of the film is about how this whole thing plays out between them.

What makes it really interesting, though is the strong, homoerotic thread that winds through the film. By the end, you have to wonder why Melissa is even in the film (Butch assurance, perhaps) since the guys are so emotionally entwined they have made huge sacrifices for each other. (Don't want to give too much away here, so you'll have to see it for the particulars.) Even in the details, this thread seems obvious, at least to me.

But hey, don't take my word for it. If you don't see it, that's fine too. The film can be enjoyed on a number of levels. It's not a great film by any stretch, but the acting alone puts it way up on the list. All three principals turn in wonderful, nuanced performances, making this film well worth seeing. Give it a shot.

Rating:
Summary: A whole lot more interesting than it seems
Review: The other reviews for this film notwithstanding, this is NOT the "Gun Shy" that stars Neeson and Platt. This particular film stars William Peterson ("Manhunter")as Jake Bridges, and Michael Wincott ("The Crow")as Frankie McGregor, in what appears to be a fairly cut-and-dried exercise. Jake, a down-and-out writer is befriended by Frankie, a collector for a local mob boss. Jake needs money and something to occupy his mind so he won't drink himself to death. Frankie wants an education.

The two of them not only click,they become very good friends, and Peterson falls in love with his friend's girlfriend Melissa, (Diane Lane "The Cotton Club")setting up your basic triangle. The rest of the film is about how this whole thing plays out between them.

What makes it really interesting, though is the strong, homoerotic thread that winds through the film. By the end, you have to wonder why Melissa is even in the film (Butch assurance, perhaps) since the guys are so emotionally entwined they have made huge sacrifices for each other. (Don't want to give too much away here, so you'll have to see it for the particulars.) Even in the details, this thread seems obvious, at least to me.

But hey, don't take my word for it. If you don't see it, that's fine too. The film can be enjoyed on a number of levels. It's not a great film by any stretch, but the acting alone puts it way up on the list. All three principals turn in wonderful, nuanced performances, making this film well worth seeing. Give it a shot.

Rating:
Summary: Only watch for Michael Wincott's intense performance
Review: There is only one reason to rent or buy this highly derivative, would-be noir, low-budget indie flick ' Michael Wincott's skillful, moving performance in what is apparently his only full-length, feature role after years of doing small supporting parts mostly as psychotic serial killers. Here he is very moving in a complex role as a soft-hearted Mafia wiseguy with a penchant for saving people. It is a neat idea that takes your initial stereotyped reaction to his harsh appearance and deep, gravely voice -- that he is going to be yet another crazy killer -- and spins it in the other direction. By the end of the movie, it's his character (Frankie) you are concerned about....not the "hero". While the film is otherwise pretty forgettable, I couldn't get his performance out of my mind after seeing it this summer. Prior to this, I had never heard of this very talented actor before.

Unfortunately, GUNSHY is otherwise badly flawed, suffering from a genuinely awful script by Larry Gross loaded fillled absolute howlers, corny situations and references to better films (especially GROSSE POINT BLANK, DONNIE BRASCO, GET SHORTY, LEAVING LAS VEGAS, MONA LISA, just to mention a few) that just make this look very lame in comparison...plus the absurdness of a crime gang that has exactly four members, one of whom is in a wheelchair, and who hail from that crime mecca of IRELAND. The terrible problem of IRISH gangland crime in Atlantic City?

The other leads are just unbelievably bad in this. They are otherwise respected performers, so I am not sure if the bad script or bad direction threw them off or what. William L. Petersen in particular is actually embarrassing. He is very badly miscast as Jake Bridges, a down-and-out journalist, who just like the character in 'Leaving Las Vegas' has gone to a gambling mecca to 'drink himself to death.' Petersen's performance is full of annoying mannerisms -- it is really agonizing to watch the hammy expression on his face as he chokes down drinks (demon alchohol, I guess). Combined with his heartless betrayal of his only friend Frankie, this makes Jake unsympathetic, and as he is the protagonist AND narrator that throws the whole dramatic structure of the film off-kilter. Beautiful Diane Lane (Melissa) is so affectless and flat that she is barely engaged with the story at all and is handicapped by a dreadfully fake "dees-dem-does Jersey" accent. (Needless to say, when either of them has a scene with Wincott, they are simply blown off the screen by his intensity and professionalism.) She has zero sexual chemistry with either actor, and she is particularly unbelievable as a nurse -- who wears spike heels to work with her nurse's whites! -- and who doesn't seem to know better than to leave a man (severely beaten and in shock) passed out unconscious on her living room sofa. The script suffers from Mr. Gross's concept that nursing is a 'loser' profession for uneducated gun molls, a very odd idea indeed, as an R.N. would normally have a college degree and earn a very good income.

Additionally, I have a hard time believing that Mr. Gross ever did more than visit Atlantic City -- this film doesn't have the gritty realism of a story set in a very particular time and place. It could have been set most anywhere and indeed was filmed mostly on soundstages in L.A. (so why not set it there? Or right...the whole 'Leaving Las Vegas' drunk thing). Except for a nice aerial shot of the Jersey shoreline in the titles, we see nothing of the casinos, or beaches or anything that would particularly center this story in its location.

Some other reviewers have commented on a homoerotic thread running through the story. This isn't really supported by the performances, but it certainly leads to some very odd lines in the movie. Jake mentions to Melissa that 'both men and women find him very attractive' -- not the sort of thing one usually says to a girl you are trying to pick up. But the most egregious example is in a shooting range, where gangster Frankie is teaching writer Jake how to use a handgun for the first time, and as they take turns firing their weapons, Jake tells Frankie, 'Now I know what I was afraid of...it feels so good.' Uh...OK. Phallic reference. I get it. But nothing is developed along this plotline, there is no erotic chemistry between the actors, and it's just a pointless and embarrassing red herring.

The two worst moments in this movie are when Petersen abruptly and pointlessly bursts into the sea chanty "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" and sings THE WHOLE THING while waiting for the other gangsters to complete a bank robbery. This is crawl-under-your-seat embarassing.

The other one is near the end, when we see Petersen in jail -- a country club prison for white collar criminals, no doubt, as he has a private cell with his own desk and typewriter. In a cutaway, we see a bookstore piled with copies of his book, "Deception in Atlantic City: A true crime story", which has won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism (according to the window sign). The mockup of the book is unbelievably lame -- it looks like a kid created it on a home computer -- but the worst part is that the PULITIZER PRIZE-WINNING BOOK obviously must be the story of GUNSHY (i.e., how Jake got in with a "gang" as a mole, but then double crossed the police and went to jail to save his gangster buddy). So scriptwriter Larry Gross is basically saying that the plot of GUNSHY is so wonderful, so original, and such an expose of organized crime & police corruption, that it deserves the most prestigious prize in the world for journalism!!!! hahahaha....NOT.

At the time this film was made (1998), all three actors were pretty much minor leaguers despite long resumes. Today (2003) Petersen has the lead in the No.1 TV series CSI, and Diane Lane is a major film star with an Academy Award nomination for Unfaithful and new film Under the Tuscan Sun...while Michael Wincott is still basically doing cameos as psycho killers. If this isn't total injustice, than I don't know what is. Anyways, rent this video for his performance and fast forward through the bad parts.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong Movie
Review: These reviews are not for the movie shown above. This movie doesn't even have Liam Neeson in it! Just letting you know.

Rating:
Summary: Guns can be scary as well as shy....
Review: This is a movie about being shy of guns and is comical in a way so if you want a good laugh and enjoy watching sandra bulluck or diane lane, then rent it. You probably will enjoy the dark nature of this movie with enough laughter to keep it enjoyable.