Get Shorty - Rolling Stone. Do me a favor. If some jerk tells you that Get Shorty, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1. Miami loan shark who links up with the sharks of the movie business and fits right in, is another ripoff of Pulp Fiction, clobber him with a stack of Leonard's 3. Leonard, now 7. 0, was writing primo pulp before Quentin Tarantino gurgled his first .
Majestyk, with Charles Bronson; and Stick, with Burt Reynolds — were bloated Hollywood hogwash. Until now. Get Shorty serves up Leonard in grand style. There are a few broad strokes, and the stew could have used a dash more menace and sexual simmer. But why quibble when the sound, feel and sizzle of Leonard is otherwise pitch perfect?
Screenwriter Scott Frank (Little Man Tate) lifts gobs of Leonard's deliciously profane dialogue, which gives a knockout cast, led by John Travolta as the loan shark Chili Palmer, a feast to dine upon. Director Barry Sonnenfeld, of the two Addams Family films, uses a light touch to smashing comic effect. And Leonard gets to stick it to the Hollywood that stuck it to him. The result is one of the best movies of the year and by far the most entertaining. In typical Leonard style the film begins in the middle of a seemingly irrelevant conversation.
Chili and his hood buddy Tommy (Martin Ferrero) are sitting in a Miami restaurant, discussing the unseasonably cold weather and old Jimmy Cagney movies. Chili is a big movie fan, with a leather jacket .
On the drive to Ray's, Chili and Tommy hash out the etiquette for getting back the jacket. When Ray opens the door, Chili nails him with one swift punch in the face, grabs his jacket and exits as Ray's large nose gushes blood. The scene is pure Leonard, and Tarantino, who had Pulp Fiction's two hit men (Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson) talking foot massage, admits his debt to the master: . Then all of a sudden, woof, you're into whatever story you're telling.
Leonard loves to zig and zag, and Sonnenfeld follows him with faithful exuberance, stopping to listen to Chili discuss the fine distinctions between John Wayne in Rio Bravo and in El Dorado, to show how Chili winds up working for Ray even after Chili creases the bum's head with a bullet and to introduce a new gallery of rogues, including Leo Devoe (the incomparably hilarious David Paymer), a dry cleaner who fakes his death in a plane crash to dodge his debts. On orders from Ray, Chili tracks Leo first to Vegas, then to Los Angeles, where Chili also tries to collect on money owed to him by Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), a producer of cheap and sleazy horror flicks with only one badge of honor: .
Harry is plenty anxious; this Florida shylock has roused Harry from the bed he's sharing with Karen Flores (Rene Russo), the star of all three of Harry's Slime Creatures films. He offers Chili a chance to get in on his latest project, a quality film called Mr. Lovejoy, in exchange for getting a badass investor, Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), off Harry's back. It's Bo's money that Harry lost in Vegas trying to raise the $5. Mr. Lovejoy script from the writer's rapacious widow, played by Bette Midler in a hoot of a cameo.
This is Hollywood, where everyone has a pitch, including Chili. He has an idea for a movie about a shylock chasing a dry cleaner. It's real life, but Harry isn't buying. There's no female lead, no one to sympathize with and no good guy. Travolta, on a roll after Pulp Fiction, gives a dynamite performance — seductive, funny and beautifully nuanced. With Hackman, in a classic sendup of scum with ambition, he is all control.
With Russo, sexy, scrappy and touching as an intelligent woman tired of wearing tank tops and fuck- me pumps to scream at movie monsters — he is all romantic longing. Chili nabs Karen's heart and body with his sincere praise of her work in Bride of the Mutant: . In one memorable scene, Chili and Bo break into Harry's office to read Mr.
Lovejoy and decide they could improve the script better than the pros. Lindo, an Oscar favorite for Clockers, is terrific. Ditto James Gandolfini as Bear, the stunt man turned stooge for Bo. After Chili creams Bear for trying to set him up in an airport drug scam, he stops to give him a lesson in pride: ?
What's Bo ever done he can talk about? Martin Weir is Karen's former husband, the star of Napoleon and the bankable name Chili and Harry need to launch Mr. Danny De. Vito plays this peewee egomaniac, the . The payback in Get Shorty is executed with rare good humor.
Martin talks actor gibberish to Chili about . Even that's changing, now that Tarantino has optioned four Leonard novels and plans to begin by directing Killshot.
You leave Get Shorty with a sensation akin to Chili's when he leaves Orson Welles' Touch of Evil at a revival house. It's the kick that comes when a movie gets it right despite the odds. Get Shorty gets it wonderfully right.
Get Shorty Sequel
He's been intimidating people and shaking them down for money for years. Hollywood's going to love him. Watch trailers & learn more. Get Shorty is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name, and is being adapted into a.
Get Shorty Epix
With Chris O'Dowd, Ray Romano, Christine Elise, Lucy Walters. The adventures of mobster-turned-movie producer Hollywood.TV show based on Elmore Leonard's novel and. Get Shorty is probably the best example of a Gangster Comedy that I can think of. It has a great plot, interesting and bizarre characters, but mostly it does what it. Amazon.com: Get Shorty: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Renee Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Bette Midler, Jon Gries, David Paymer. Get Shorty serves up Leonard in grand style. There are a few broad strokes, and the stew could have used a dash more menace and sexual simmer. Get Shorty is the latest movie getting the TV treatment. Epix has ordered a series based on the 1990 Elmore Leonard novel and the 1995 John Travolta film of the same.