October 27, 1995
Web posted at: 12:48 p.m. EDT
From Movie Reviewer Carol Buckland
(CNN) -- Finally, a flick that does the right thing by author Elmore Leonard!
Leonard -- for those who've missed this commercial fiction master -- was writing pulp fiction long before Quentin Tarantino turned the cool crowd onto it. His quirky books about high-style lowlifes are gems. He does jazzy riffs on spider-web style plots and nails street dialogue down tight. He can delineate a character simply by reviewing the guy's grocery list!
Anyway, Leonard's books have always seemed perfect for the movies. Unfortunately, previous attempts ("Stick" starring Burt Reynolds; "52 Pick-Up" starring Roy Scheider) to translate him from the page to the silver screen have...well... basically failed.
Now comes "Get Shorty". This is not a "film." This is a movie. A MOVIE movie. It's terrifically entertaining, showcases a sleek star turn from John Travolta (I predict an Oscar nomination) AND retains most of Leonard's great dialogue.
"Get Shorty" is based on a "simple" premise. A Miami loan shark named Chili Palmer winds up in L.A. while searching for a poor schlep of a dry cleaner who owes the mob money. Chili, a die-hard movie buff, discovers the film biz suits him to a T. He's a Tinsel Town natural.
Travolta is cast as Chili. He's great. He's carrying more weight than in his boy-toy beautiful days, but the heft suits him perfectly in this picture. Chili is street smart yet oddly sweet. He's capable of violence, but he's experienced enough to know that a quiet threat can be much more effective than a thrown punch under most circumstances.
Reports say Travolta originally turned down this flick, then reconsidered on the advice of Quentin Tarantino. He also reportedly compared the submitted script with Leonard's book and discovered some of the best lines had been blander-ized. He accepted the role after what he calls the "goodies" were put back into the screenplay.
Whatever the case, if you hear a line with a special zing -- or one that makes you laugh out loud--you can almost bet it was lifted from Elmore Leonard.
Also in the cast: Gene Hackman as a schlock movie maker with a dangerous gambling habit. Hackman sports an amazing set of false teeth in this flick, he also catches his character's delusional point of view very well. Watching his character try out Chili's tough guy routine on a mobster is very, very funny.
Rene Russo (last seen as Dustin Hoffman's ex-wife and fellow virus tracker in "Outbreak") is cast as a Grade-B scream queen who longs for legitimacy. She may be a tad too classy for this part, but her intelligence and world-weary cynicism enable her to elevate this "chick" role into something special.
Danny De Vito is a hoot as two-time Oscar nominee and egomaniac, Martin Weir. He does a wonderful send-up on every annoying "Method" actor you've ever seen AND he did producing duties on this film. (No, he is not the "Shorty" this movie is about getting.)
Ex-cop Dennis Farina is hilarious as the mobster who thinks he's Chili's boss -- but ultimately finds out Palmer can out-think him six different ways without breaking a sweat. Farina is one of the best character actors around, and this is one of the best parts he's ever had.
Delroy Lindo (so brilliant in "Clockers") turns up as a drug dealer who wants to produce movies. He registers strongly...edgily violent one moment, Spago-slick the next. The scene in which he explains to Chili how easy it is to write a movie script is a classic.
Barry Sonnenfeld ("The Addams Family") directed. His approach is a touch too aggressive for my taste. One of the keys to Leonard's work is the deceptive ease of it. Although his work is amazingly disciplined and precise, he seems laid-back, almost lazy. He never presses a point, never underscores a joke. If you get his stuff, terrific. If you don't...well, too bad. Sonnenfeld, on the other hand, goes for the OBVIOUS. Everything is big and bright and overdone. Still, this movie has a lot of audience appeal and is very, very entertaining.
There are several unbilled cameos in the movie, so keep your eyes open. Sonnenfeld also includes plenty of amusing throwaway sight gags. But what makes this picture one of the picks of the fall season is Leonard's dialogue/plotting and Travolta's performance.
"Get Shorty" deserves to be huge at the box office.
This film is rated R. That's basically for language. The script seems to use the dreaded F-word in every other sentence. There's some violence, too, but it's basically of the quick, cartoony variety.
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