Get Shorty
1995 Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Synopsis
The mob is tough, but it’s nothing like show business.
Chili Palmer (Travolta) is a Miami loan shark who's sent to Los Angeles to collect on a gambling debt from film producer Harry Zimm (Hackman). Chili soon discovers that loansharking was the perfect training ground for making movies...though you have to be ruthless to make it in Hollywood
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Week 4 of the Adapted April Challenge
This is the kind of movie that leaves you speechless.
Not speechlesse because it's brillantly written and delivers laughs every single minute of the movie.
Not speechless because the story is engaging and keeps you interested throughout the movie.
No, Get Shorty leaves you speechless, because there is just nothing to say after it, except maybe "Well now I have seen Get Shorty " .It's not that I didn't like the movie, the cast is good (even a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini is in it) and Barry Sonnenfeld's direction is assured but not very noteworthy.
All in all it feels like a undercooked Pulp Fiction imitation reimagined as a Hollywood comedy.
And that… -
I don't have much to say except that an incredibly talented cast was wasted on a half-baked concept that could've been a lot of fun in the right hands. It ended and I literally said "that's it?" It lacks focus, there's no one to root for, the stakes are laughably non-existent, and it seems like everyone thought they were in a funnier movie.
John Travolta
Rene Russo
Gene Hackman
Danny DeVito
Dennis Farina
Bette Midler
James Gandolfini (his name in the film is BEAR for goodness' sake)
Harvey KeitelI mean… I can't. I just can't. I'm a loss for how you screw this up.
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When I grow up I want to be Chili Palmer.
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A smart, witty, funny, well acted, and well directed Hollywood satire.
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Part of the "Adapted April" Challenge: Week One
I don't think a movie has ever felt so much like an airport book. Now this isn't entirely a criticism. Get Shorty is a fairly entertaining movie and it zips along with a fair amount of pace that makes the whole thing kind of enjoyable. However, it's also ridiculously scattershot in both tone and character, as people randomly jump in and out of the spotlight as they're needed in the story. Get Shorty was an okay way to spend 100 minutes or so, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone just because it seems to be only aiming to strike just above the middle ground.
I think the key problem here…
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2nd Film of Adapted April Challenge
"Karen what the fuck are you doing?"- Chili Palmer (that line made me laugh hard)
Get Shorty is an enjoyable, light, crime comedy but I had the feeling it could have been better. It does have a great story. As the movie progresses there are certainly flashes of greatness (I guess the book is good, I haven't read it). It had engaging characters especially Travolta's Chili Palmer who was awesomely cool, also Dennis Farina was great as well. However, there are sooooo many characters. Like it gets pretty confusing. I'd imagine this movie gets better on rewatches because a lot of the time it felt a little convoluted but I think I figured it…
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A relatively fun film about making movies, and producers. The cast is excellent, but you'll probably forget the film before your head hits the pillow. But still worth watching.
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A collector for loan sharks who loves movies discovers that his unique talents are ideally suited to helping him break into the business of movie production.
This is an ideal film for anyone who loves movies in general and crime movies in particular. John Travolta's Chili Palmer is cold, tough, and intelligent, but what makes him endearing is the way his enthusiasm for movies is always bubbling to the surface. There is more than one scene in which a tense confrontation effortlessly morphs into a discussion about a mutual love of film, and each time it is essential to moving the plot rather than gratuitous eccentricity. This film is just packed with great actors sinking their teeth into terrific characters and the result is a delight from start to finish.
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Effortlessly cool.
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I honestly don't remember much.
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Watched this on VHS at work. Not bad.
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Excellently cast, this is a brilliant gangster comedy based on a book by Elmore Leonard. Personally, it left me a bit cold, even though all the ingredients seem to be there: the meta-references, cool one-liners, great locations and a nice interwoven web of story-lines like you'd expect from Mr Leonard.
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Week 4 of the Adapted April Challenge
This is the kind of movie that leaves you speechless.
Not speechlesse because it's brillantly written and delivers laughs every single minute of the movie.
Not speechless because the story is engaging and keeps you interested throughout the movie.
No, Get Shorty leaves you speechless, because there is just nothing to say after it, except maybe "Well now I have seen Get Shorty " .It's not that I didn't like the movie, the cast is good (even a pre-Sopranos James Gandolfini is in it) and Barry Sonnenfeld's direction is assured but not very noteworthy.
All in all it feels like a undercooked Pulp Fiction imitation reimagined as a Hollywood comedy.
And that… -
Disappointing that there wasn't much Frank Reynolds in it and, when he was in it, he wasn't particularly funny. Also too much "cool" music when a "cool" man walks across the screen on his way to threaten or hurt someone. Pretty good otherwise!
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I don't have much to say except that an incredibly talented cast was wasted on a half-baked concept that could've been a lot of fun in the right hands. It ended and I literally said "that's it?" It lacks focus, there's no one to root for, the stakes are laughably non-existent, and it seems like everyone thought they were in a funnier movie.
John Travolta
Rene Russo
Gene Hackman
Danny DeVito
Dennis Farina
Bette Midler
James Gandolfini (his name in the film is BEAR for goodness' sake)
Harvey KeitelI mean… I can't. I just can't. I'm a loss for how you screw this up.