Get Shorty

 Get Shorty 1995

• Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
• Seen by this director: Men in Black
• Based on the book by Elmore Leonard
• Cast: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Jon Gries
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Travolta – Hairspray, Be Cool, A Love Song for Bobby Long, The Thin Red Line, Face/Off, Pulp Fiction, Urban Cowboy, Grease, Saturday Night Fever
• Gene Hackman – The Royal Tenenbaums, Class Action, Postcards from the Edge, Mississippi Burning, Reds, Superman, The Coversation, The Poseidon Adventure, Bonnie and Clyde, Hawaii
• Rene Russo – Thor
• Danny DeVito – Big Fish, Virgin Suicides, Mars Attacks, Twins, maybe others
• Dennis Farina – Saving Private Ryan
• Delroy Lindo – Cymbeline, Romeo Must Die, Cider House Rules, A Life Less Ordinary, Feeling Minnesota, Clockers, Malcolm X
• James Gandolfini – Enough Said, Not Fade Away, Zero Dark Thirty, Welcome to the Riles, In the Loop, The Sopranos, Romance & Cigarettes, True Romance
• John Gries – Endgame, Lost, Napoleon Dynamite, Men in Black, The Grifters
• Why? I enjoyed the book back when
• Seen: Once before. Now 11 June 2022      

       Why in the world did I like this book? Maybe it’s better than the film. After only five minutes, before the opening credits even, I’m bored. If I remember correctly though, Gandolfini is good and he had a long ponytail. That must be worth a *.

       Oh, I see, it’s not just mafia gangster stuff, it’s about making Hollywood films. Chili Palmer (Travolta) wants to make movies.

       Slightly better. Very slightly. It has its amusing moment and the actors are good at hamming it up but it really is a nothing story. Many love it. I don’t. Not even Gandolfini’s ponytail helps much. And I gave away all my Elmore Leonard books a long time ago. 

2* of 5