Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510230096
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It retains the dry humor of its source material - Elmore Leonard's novel - while tightening up the plot and cheerfully satirizing Hollywood. Director Barry Sonnenfeld and an inspired ensemble cast manage to laugh at themselves and to take their work seriously at the same time.
Things begin in Miami where loan shark and enforcer Chili Palmer (John Travolta) gets on the wrong side of mobster Ray "Bones" Barboni (Dennis Farina). The scene quickly shifts to Los Angeles where Chili goes to track down a deadbeat dry-cleaner. A true movie buff, Chili is immediately swept away by the trashy glamour of Hollywood.
His first contact is horror movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), a hustler who thinks he's got a script that will be his ``Driving Miss Daisy.'' It's a ticket to the big time if he can persuade the right star to sign on. His sometimes girlfriend and actress Karen Flores (Rene Russo) isn't so sure. Chili, already familiar with her ``scream-queen'' work, falls for her immediately.
And Karen is the key to the deal. Her ex-husband is Martin Wier (Danny DeVito), the hottest and most self-absorbed star in town. If Zimm and Chili could get him to say yes....
But first there's the matter of Zimm's investor, drug-dealer Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), and his stuntman-turned-bodyguard Bear (James Gandolfini) who have been bitten by the movie bug, too. And Bo's got to take care of half a million dollars in an airport locker.
That's just the beginning, though the plot isn't nearly as confusing as it sounds. Writer Scott Frank (``Little Man Tate,'' ``Dead Again'') and director Sonnenfeld realize that the two keys to the film are Leonard's characters and wry tone. The novel is based on his own Hollywood experiences and the filmmakers must share them. They take some savage digs at the egomania of actors and the deal-making mentality that drives the business. That doesn't mean they've forgotten the power that film has.
Perhaps the best scene comes when Chili and Karen go to a revival theater to see Orson Welles' ``Touch of Evil.'' Notice how Sonnenfeld highlights Henry Mancini's terrific score for Welles' film and then pulls it into his own.
Little touches like that - and there are many others - will delight diehard movie fans, but they don't interfere with the story at hand. On the simplest what's-going-to-happen-next? level, ``Get Shorty'' is a finely crafted comic thriller. It's told at a snappy pace and if a few loose ends are left hanging, so what?
It's hard to say exactly how the Hollywood establishment will react to this light-hearted criticism, but the truth is that lesser films have been nominated for important Oscars. ``Get Shorty'' deserves a bunch.
Get Shorty
*** 1/2
An MGM/UA release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View 6. 105 min. Rated R for strong language, violence.
by CNB