Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

 
Home | Archive | About | Cinematical.com | Lists | News | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter!  
 



2009 Oscars
District 13: Ultimatum **1/2
From Paris with Love **1/2
Edge of Darkness **
Fish Tank ***1/2
Legion **
When in Rome *
More
 




Adam
The Bourne Identity [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Supremacy [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The Bourne Ultimatum [DVD/Blu-Ray hybrid]
The House of the Devil
Import Export
More Than a Game
Ong-Bak 2
Zombieland
The 25 Best DVDs of 2009
More
 

Film Features

2009: The Year's Ten Best Films
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My 2003 Interview with Brittany Murphy
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2009
Richard Linklater
John Woo
Jared and Jerusha Hess
Essential Halloween Movies
Michael Stuhlbarg
Jane Campion
Bobcat Goldthwait
Hugh Dancy
Kathryn Bigelow
Willem Dafoe: The 2009 CineVegas Interview
David Carradine
A 2002 Interview with Edward Asner
Vinessa Shaw
Henry Selick
2008: The Year's Ten Best Films
The San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008
The 25 Best DVDs of 2008
Bruce Campbell
Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei
Josh Brolin
A Tribute to Paul Newman
Steve Coogan on Hamlet 2
Manny Farber (1917-2008)
Bernie Mac (1957-2008)
Emily Mortimer
Brad Anderson
Don Cheadle at CineVegas
Abel Ferrara at CineVegas
Tina Sinatra
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Terry Zwigoff on the new Bad Santa Director's Cut
Alfonso Cuarón Interview
Guillermo Del Toro Interview
Christmas Movies
Combustible Celluloid's Big Guide to Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
The Top 100
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
© 1997-2009 Combustible Celluloid



Get Shorty (1995)

Rating: 4 Stars (out of 4)

'Shorty' Cuts to the Quick

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Get Shorty: Special Edition on DVD.

Adapted by Scott Frank and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Get Shorty was considered at the time to be the first proper Elmore Leonard film adaptation, the first to get his brand of humor and his tone right. It's easily digested and quickly forgotten but, while watching, it has a strong and unique flavor. It's not an official masterpiece, but like Casablanca, it's a virtually flawless product of the Hollywood machine.

More than anyone else, the actors, from leads to bit players, benefit from this script, sinking their teeth into it as if it were Shakespeare. Leading the pack is John Travolta, cooler than ever, as Chili Palmer, a Miami hitman sent to Hollywood to retrieve a bundle of stolen money. Enchanted by tinseltown, the film buff Chili instead finds himself making deals with a sleazy producer (Gene Hackman), befriending a sexy scream queen (Renee Russo) and charming an egotistical star (Danny DeVito).

Delroy Lindo gives nobility and weight to a local gangster who would also like to get into the movie business but lacks Chili's finesse. And Dennis Farina lends a fiery performance as a bungling Miami mobster, substituting his "Ms" for "Bs" through a broken nose. Harvey Keitel and Penny Marshall appear in cameos, and all the character actors' efforts combined reach a perfect pitch that results in a snappy symphony.

At the time, the movie felt like a deliberate tribute to Quentin Tarantino, a movie fan who resurrected Travolta's career, and now it feels even more relevant, like the missing link between Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown.

Sonnenfeld, who began as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers, turns in a bright, crisp film with just the right grasp on the humor, suspense and plot mechanics. It pays homage to scrappy "B" movies, Orson Welles' great noir Touch of Evil, and the films of Howard Hawks (Rio Bravo), who no doubt would have been the first one to enjoy Get Shorty.

DVD Details: The new double-disc set has been released both for the film's tenth anniversary and to promote the new sequel, Be Cool. It comes with a feature commentary track by director Sonnenfeld, several talking-heads 'n' clips featurettes, the blessedly deleted "graveyard" scene (featuring Ben Stiller), outtakes, the "party reel," a "sneak peek" at Be Cool, the Bravo "page to screen" special, a photo gallery and the trailer.

Starring: John Travolta, Renee Russo, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, Dennis Farina, James Gandolfini, David Paymer, Bette Midler
Written by: Scott Frank, based on a novel by Elmore Leonard
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
MPAA Rating: R for language and some violence
Running Time: 105 minutes
Date: February 26, 2005

Home
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
DVDs
Features
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
The Rating System
Email Me
All scribblings © 1997-2010 Combustible Celluloid