Schnappt Shorty

Barry Sonnenfeld was and maybe wasn't the right choice to make Get Shorty. He's a great visualist, and his films (Adams Family, Men in Black) are also very funny, but it's hard to say whether or not another director might've taken Elmore Leonard's sly comic novel more seriously or with less depth. As it is, however, Get Shorty is a cool little treat that doesn't over-stay its welcome, and provides its cast a plethora of witty dialog. John Travolta brings on some sharp attitude, knowing the angles and wanting, as his character Chili Palmer, to get into Hollywood and out of loan sharking. Gene Hackman's funny as a fledgling producer with his first, true big hit in his lap. And supporting parts from Delroy Lindo, Renne Russo, Danny De Vito (as 'Hollywood' as you'll ever see him), and James Gandolfini, are all very worthy. It's a worthwhile watch, with a dead-on score from John Lurie. But I would reccomend Out of Sight or Jackie Brown to Leonard fans looking for a great adaptation. It's a very good Hollywood picture (reflective of what it's about), though it's not a masterpiece. A-

Elmore Leonard's books must be loved by film screen adapters. His characters translate very well from the written page to the moving picture. "Get Shorty" is one of Mr. Leonard's best stories and it gets a very good treatment in the hands of Barry Sonnenfeld, its director, with the help of Scott Frank, who adapted it for the screen.

The casting of the movie was it's greatest asset. John Travolta is so cool as Chilli, the mafioso who loves movies! In his scenes with Gene Hackman, he demonstrates what a good actor he is. On the surface, he appears to do nothing; he works with an economy that is very hard to imitate. Granted, after Mr. Travolta's amazing appearance in Pulp Fiction, this was a confirmation and validation of his talent.

It was surprising, since I didn't remember his appearance on the movie, to watch actor James Gandolfini, prior to his recent fame. He plays a stuntman turned wise guy. Mr. Gandolfini must have gone through a great dental cosmetic transformation, unless he was made up to look very ugly, as Bear, in the film. I have greatly admired his work before his TV series, as a fine character actor, which he demonstrates here the potential he had and was not discovered until much later.

Delroy Lindo is also excellent as one of the bad guys in the film. This actor, who is as great in films as in the theater, deserves much better. He is a man that always gives an honest performance. Not being a Danny DeVito fan, I must confess that he was very restrained here. He can do very good work with the right director behind him, as he shows playing the egotistical actor, Martin Weir.

Also excellent, Dennis Farina. It's unfortunate he doesn't get better choices because he is always very effective in whatever he plays. In this film, he is hysterical as Ray "Bones" Barboni. Rene Russo, as the bit player with a heart of gold, is good.

What can be said of Gene Hackman that hasn't already been said? His Harry Zimm is so accurate that we believe he is this sleazy Hollywood producer. Mr. Hackman is a consummate performer who keeps getting better all the time.

If I had enjoyed the film the first time, looking at it a second time was a revelation.

When his boss has a heart attack, mob hard man Chili Palmer finds himself working indirectly for Ray Barboni. Barboni's instance on picking through his books and finds the case of a dry-cleaner who owes money but is dead. With pressure to cover the debt himself, Chili sets out to find the man who he knows isn't really dead – his search takes him to LA where he follows up another debt in the form of Harry Zimm. Zimm is a producer of trashy movies and Chili sees him as his way into the movie business and out of loan sharking – businesses that he realises are actually not that different.

With the release (and drubbing) of the sequel, I decided to take the chance to watch the original film again and review it because I hadn't seen it since it first came out a decade ago. The story is potentially quite messy as it has quite a few threads with different characters coming and going quite quickly and it is to its credit that it manages to hold it all together and bring it off satisfyingly well. It doesn't have a great deal of depth of course but it only aims to be slick and it manages to do this pretty well considering. The script has plenty of injokes to match the slick dialogue and narrative and the story does move along in a manner that is enjoyable on several levels. I think claims that it is "hilarious" is maybe taking it a bit too far because it isn't really laugh out loud funny more than once or twice but it is entertaining in a stylish and slick way that makes it quite fun to watch.

The cast really help and the majority of them give enjoyable performances even if the aforementioned depth isn't there for them to do a great deal with. Travolta enjoys a funnier version of the role that gave him his mid-nineties comeback with Pulp Fiction and he handles himself well – as slick as he is sleek and with a really cool presence that is important since the character is nothing more than cool presence. De Vito does really well sending up movie stars (specifically, if we are to believe all we read, Dustin Hoffman) but Russo seems to be an addition with nothing specific to do despite her still being enjoyable. Farina can do mobsters in his sleep so at least here he gets to enjoy himself at the same time; Lindo is a good match for Travolta and is a good bit of casting with good support from Gandolfini. In joke cameos are "take it or leave it" so they are not critical to the film but Keitel, Baldwin and Marshall stand out as being in there.

Overall this is not a film that is hilarious or one that has great character development. Rather what it is is a slick story told with style and swagger – much like Chili himself. The plot threads are helped by not ever having a lot of detail behind them to be picked up but they are still potentially messy and the film does well to bring them all together in a pleasing and knowing fashion. The starry cast is good value and all in all the film is entertaining; which was all I really wanted from it in the first place.

Get Shorty is a hilariously funny, brilliantly written and colorfully acted satire of how hard it is to get a Hollywood movie made. All the moving pieces and different parties, each with their own motivations and goals, make it a natural fit for a film-loving gangster. Leonard is the man, as the movie totally depends on his script, and every part of it is awesome (dialogue, characters, story webbing).

I saw this movie in 1995 when first released, but never got around to thinking about a review until I saw it again a few weeks back on late night TV. I'd forgotten just how good it is...

From a novel by Elmore Leonard, this story is arguably the best satire about the Hollywood dream factory yet done, for two reasons: it savagely exposes and lampoons the behaviors of actors, writers, producers and directors and it implicitly compares that business with the business of small time hoodlums and loan sharks. So many times during this story does Chili Palmer (John Travolta) announce, in a bemused fashion: "I can't believe how youse guys do business out here..." Chili, as we learn very early, is a loan shark from Miami who is ordered by Bones (Dennis Farina), his new boss, to recover a $15,000 debt from Leo (David Paymer), a loser with a garrulous wife, Fay (Linda Hart) who's helped Leo fake his own death on a plane crash and collect $300,000 as a settlement from the airline. Fay, of course, can't keep her mouth shut and tells Chili that Leo scammed the money and was now living it up in Vegas. Chili, in Vegas, finds out that Leo has gone to LA. But Chili also makes a score: a Vegas casino owner asks him to lean on an LA movie producer, Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) for $150,000 still owing.

So, off to La-La Land goes Chili, and that's where the fun really starts...

The plot then changes direction, almost completely: Chili, after recovering most of the $300,000 from Leo (and letting him off lightly), gets involved with Harry in two ways – first, convinces him to take on Chili's own idea for a movie production and second, fend off two "investors" (who just happened to be drug pushers also) who want their money back from Harry who – you guessed it – is late in getting some other movie off the ground, and has spent all their money.

However, those two pushy investors, Bo Catlett and Ronnie Wingate (Delroy Lindo and John Gries), have another problem: the $500,000 drug money that they can't retrieve from a locker box at LAX and which Chili sees as an opportunity to make more profit. That idea, however, is blown away when Bones – who would like nothing better than to see Chili dead -- arrives from Miami looking to muscle in on Chili's business in LA.

How all that threads together into a gloriously comedic and ironic slice of Hollywood life and death is a testament to Leonard's brilliant story, a great screenplay and cinematography and tight editing – not to mention the almost flawless acting by actors who are continually taking the mickey out of the whole business, right up to the final scene.

There's no doubt that this is Travolta's comeback movie. The guy just oozes dangerous cool and --- ooops – chilling competence as he maneuvers between the high and low life of a strange town, with some very strange people and even stranger business practices. But, kudos also go to Dennis Farina, Gene Hackman and Danny DeVito as the klutzes they portray; and Renee Russo is suitably decorous as Chili's love interest. Watch out for cameos from Bette Midler, Harvey Keitel and other Hollywood luminaries.

And, here's the supreme self-referential irony: there really is a real Chili Palmer in the movie; he's one of the actors who has a bit part as one of Bones' buddies! What a gag...

Finally, note the title: Get Shorty. That's Elmore Leonard's delicious swipe at the whole gangster genre. Remember Get Carter (1971)...? Ho-ho-HO-ho-ho!

Highly recommended.