Get Shorty

Starring: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Box Office: $72,101,622
1995

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Miami gangster (John Travolta) travels to Hollywood to recover money owed to his boss. While there, he pitches a movie idea to a has-been producer(Gene Hackman). To help him, he works with an aging actress (Rene Russo) to try and attach a big name star (Danny DeVito) to the project. To complicate matters, a California mobster (Delroy Lindo) wants to get in on the project. Based on an Elmore Leonard novel.

Review:

Tim: Get Shorty is really all about John Travolta. The other actors in the film- though impressive, really only work to support the central star's performance. Travolta is known as a hit-and-miss actor. While this film isn't superb, his performance is. Travolta shines brightest when he delivers some very cool lines, like his "Look at me." He plays a tough, but likeable character (much like he did in Pulp Fiction).

Gene Hackman is decent in his role, but its not in the top half of his better performances. Rene Russo isn't given much room to do anything, and as a result, doesn't achieve the potential she could have reached in this role. Danny DeVito is good in his role, but doesn't quite fit in with everyone else. These are three excellent actors whose talent is simply wasted because there isn't much for them to do.

The strongest aspect of Get Shorty is the amazing cast assembled. However, sometimes when you put so many terrific actors together, their star power can offset each other, or they can fade away because their talent is wasted. Get Shorty is all about the cast and their performances. The plot of the actual film is flimsy and not really worth mentioning because you won't get too into the story of the film. Watching the movie you don't see characters, you see big name actors portraying characters. That hurts the film greatly. This movie isn't spectacular, but should be seen for Travolta's performance. If you can manage to look past the big names wasting their talent, then you might realize that in many ways, this is a really cool movie. That's the best way to describe it.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Big Bounce, Men in Black, Pulp Fiction, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Birdcage, What's the Worst that Could Happen?, Men in Black, Jackie Brown