To me, this movie is perfection.

Thanks for the memories!

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Chili Palmer is a debt collector working for the mob in Miami. He is instructed to collect on the debt of a man who apparently died in a plane crash… his wife tells a different story; he missed the flight but the airline thought he was on board so paid her $300,000 in compensation. He then took it to Las Vegas. Chili follows him there but discovers he has moved on to Los Angeles. While in Vegas he is asked if he can help out collecting a debt from a film director in LA… he agrees and so begins his introduction to the film business. He meets Zimm who agrees to pay up within ninety days; they get chatting and Chili pitches an idea for a movie… the movie we are watching. Of course at this point he doesn't know how it will end. Zimm also owes money to some local gangsters, who in turn owe money to a Colombian drug cartel. It isn't long before Chili wants to get into the movie business and, having retrieved the $300,000 is looking to invest it in Zimm's next project, he is also getting involved with an actress and trying to help get a leading actor to play the protagonist.When written down the plot seems a bit convoluted but when watching it all makes sense. The story is told with flair; it is fun and provides lots of laughs without the humour seeming forced It also contains lots of entertaining characters. The cast includes lots of well-known faces; John Travolta is on fine form as Chili and is ably supported by Gene Hackman as Zimm; Rene Russo, as love interest Karen Flores; Danny DeVito as film star Martin Weir; Dennis Farina as Miami mobster Ray 'Bones'; Delroy Lindo as LA gangster Bo Catlett and James Gandolfini as his enforcer 'Bear'. There is lots of sharp dialogue delivered in a way that makes the characters feel real rather than becoming caricatures. There is some violence but the way it occurs is more comical then upsetting. Overall I'd recommend this for anybody looking for a slick film with gangsters, assorted wannabes that has a gentle poke at Hollywood and provides more than enough laughs.

Crime, comedy and action are brilliantly blended together in this fine thriller that has a lot of fun, mainly at the expense of Hollywood's movie makers. Its complicated plot illustrates how easily a mobster adjusts to the world of movies where, for obvious reasons, he instinctively anticipates the kinds of problems that an aspiring producer might encounter. His story is littered with numerous subplots that are richly entertaining and a variety of characters whose eccentricities are a great source of dark humour. What really illuminates the whole undertaking though, is its punchy dialogue that's witty, sharp and full of wisecracks.Miami loan shark, Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is instructed by Mafia boss Ray "Bones" Barboni (Dennis Farina) to track down a local dry cleaner who tried to avoid repaying a hefty loan by faking his own death. After speaking to the dry cleaner's wife, Chili establishes that Leo Devoe (David Paymer) is actually still alive and has gone to Las Vegas. In Vegas, a casino boss confirms that Leo had been there but had since moved on to Los Angeles. Knowing that Chili's next stop would be L.A., the casino boss then hires him to recover $150,000 that he's owed by a Hollywood movie producer who ran out on his debt after a recent gambling session.Chili breaks into the house where B-movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman) is in bed with his girlfriend Karen Flores (Rene Russo) and watches TV until Zimm comes downstairs to investigate. During their conversation, Zimm agrees to repay his gambling debt within a reasonable time and Chili, who's a film buff, pitches a story for a movie that's based on Leo Devoe's exploits. Zimm doesn't believe the story would have enough commercial appeal but has another script called "Mr Lovejoy" which is so good that if made and released, could elevate him to the A-list of producers. Chili is desperate to be a part of the project and so offers to help Zimm by relieving the pressure he's under from his creditors and helping with his efforts to get top film star Martin Weir (Danny DeVito) on board. Karen is an actress who's featured in a number of Zimm's monster movies but more importantly, as Weir's ex-wife, she comes in useful for helping to get him involved.Things seem to be going well when Weir makes it clear that he's favourably impressed by the script because his involvement would make it relatively easy to attract the $500,000 investment that would be needed to make the movie. Problems arise, however, when Ray Barboni comes to L.A. to recover the money he's owed by Devoe and volatile drug dealer Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo) also arrives to collect the $200,000 he invested with Zimm to make a movie which never went into production because Zimm gambled the cash away in Las Vegas.The star-studded cast of "Get Shorty" bring huge energy, flair and colour to the wonderful characters that they play and deliver their fast-talking dialogue with great panache. Danny DeVito (as the title's Shorty), Dennis Farina, Gene Hackman and Delroy Lindo all stand out in their roles but John Travolta ultimately carries the movie because his special combination of toughness, coolness and charm makes Chili Palmer both believable and immensely likable. Director Barry Sonnenfeld also deserves great credit for bringing such clarity and pace to a plot which is both complex and character-heavy.

One of the great mysteries of all time, right up there with Area 51 and the Da Vinci Code, is why the film industry, now into its second century and -- as you read this -- consuming on a relative basis more bandwidth than any other form of media, cannot produce consistently decent product? Now don't misunderstand. This is not to say that most movies are inherently bad, for that is not true either. However one of the dirty little secrets of the industry is that the "breakout" ratio is around 20:1. That is, for every 19 forgettable products that are churned out -- products that keep the cable and streaming media pipelines full, and keep food on the table for all the electricians, caterers, and Best Boys -- about one actually is memorable enough to attract a permanent audience or become near-iconic. Not a very efficient ratio! The late Marshall McLuhan tried in his lifetime to develop the notion of "media ecology," essentially the premise that the cultural output of a society was no less important than any other industry output, and therefore an effort should be made NOT TO WASTE THE RESOURCES or (simply put) produce junk. Like the infamous joke about about the "Nietzsche graffiti" (first line: "God is dead - Nietzsche." Second line: "Nietzsche is dead. God") that attempt did not turn out so well. McLuhan is gone, and the ratio has arguably gotten worse, because there are now many more pipelines to fill. Which brings us, belatedly, to GET SHORTY, not only a great film (one of Travolta's best performances, so effortless you wonder if he phoned it in, and Pixar just added a body) but one of Hollywood's most "inside" scripts ever. (Comedians have "inside jokes." Hollywood has "inside scripts.") The premise here is that the making of a movie has little to do with the movie, and everything to do with egos and business capabilities of the people making it. The idea that a professional mobster could stumble into Hollywood and suddenly realize that making a film is no different than planning a hit, or a robbery, is sheer brilliance. And very close to home. In the history of the medium, it is one of the only movies to deal with the delicate (and unpopular) issue of ... why so many bad films have to be made, simply to produce one good one...?

Chili Palmer (John Travolta) works for the mob. He's volatile, intense, and extremely street smart. When Ray Barboni (Dennis Farina) takes Chili's coat, he promptly punches Ray in the face to get his coat back. Too bad for Chili, his boss dies and he has to work for Ray's crew. He's collecting from producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), and ends up getting into the world of movie making.This is from an Elmore Leonard novel, and the sharply written characters are a testament to that. Whether it's Leonard's words, the top actors, or the flash of Hollywood. There's an artificial sense. It's light. It's breezy. It's jazzy. The movie is having lots of fun. It makes for a cute movie.