GET SHORTY
A film review by Ed Powell
Copyright 1995 Ed Powell
Take one Miami loansharker (John Travolta), send him to collect $300,000 from someone who was gone to L.A., and mix him with a horror movie director (Gene Hackman), an actress from his movies (Rene Russo), and a bigtime actor (Danny DeVito). Add several twisty plotlines, and let insanity ensue.
GET SHORTY is a tounge-in-cheek look into the world of film making and organized crime. While is was a very entertaining and engrossing film, I couldn't help but be confused with the way that the many plotlines were intertwined. It seems as if the writer was trying to get too creative. Not that there is anything wrong with creativity, it's just that the writer could have directed it towards clarifying fewer plotlines. Overall, however, I give high marks to the writer and director for overall story execution.
Four big names in a film ... I usually take that as a sign that those names are trying to cover up for a weak story. The story wasn't weak, though, and the acting was excellent. John Travolta is made for playing a loansharker, Gene Hackman is good in anything, and Rene Russo and Danny DeVito are excellent actors playing actors.
The settings were well thought out, the music was well suited for the action, and the director made fine use of several fancy camera moves, even if there were a few too many.
GET SHORTY is a wonderful film, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets an Oscar or two. It seemed a little short, and it ends rather suddenly, but it is well worth paying to see.
Produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, and Stacey Sher. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. An MGM release.
RATINGS (out of ten)
--------------------
Plot/Story: 6
Writing: 8.5
Acting: 8
Design: 8
Effects: --
Direction: 7.5
Music: 7
TOTAL: 45 out of 60 (Overall: 7.5)
-- Ed Powell, MSTie #27968 http://user.aol.com/joeylemur/homepage.htm
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