1995 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Get Shorty is a 1995 American gangster comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Scott Frank. It is based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name and stars John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, and Danny DeVito. Get Shorty follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in feature film production after traveling to Los Angeles to collect a casino debt from B-movie director Harry Zimm (Hackman).
Get Shorty was followed by a sequel, Be Cool, in 2005, and in 2017 inspired a television series of the same name.
Plot
Ernesto "Chili" Palmer, a small-time loan shark based in Miami, gets his jacket stolen by Ray "Bones" Barboni, a mobster from another crew. Chili goes to Bones and takes his jacket back, punching him in the face and breaking his nose. When Bones tries to attack Chili in revenge, Chili shoots him in the head non-fatally, leaving him with an ugly scar. Bones tries to have Chili killed, but is unsuccessful because the bosses of their crews don’t want to start a mob war.
Twelve years later, the boss of Chili’s crew dies of a heart attack and Bones inherits Chili’s list of outstanding loans, which has to be handed over with up to date payments. Chili has written one of them off since the client, a dry cleaner, died in a plane crash, but it turns out that the dry cleaner didn’t board the plane after checking in and has scammed the airline out of $300,000 in life insurance, which he is enjoying in Vegas.
After relieving the dry cleaner of the money in a casino, Chili gets his friend, the head of security, to hire him to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a horror film producer in Los Angeles. Chili sneaks into the house of actress Karen Flores in the middle of the night, where Harry is staying. Chili tells Harry the dry cleaner’s story as if it’s an idea for a movie, seeing an opportunity to get into a better line of business.
Harry sees an opportunity in getting a tough guy to help him out and asks for Chili's help in finessing a $200,000 investment from Bo Catlett – owner of a limo service as a front for drug dealing who also wants to get into a better line of business – in a horror movie he can’t make because he gambled it away, which is why Chili has come calling. Chili is pulling this off when Harry errs by revealing the film he really wants to make, one with a great script. Both Chili and Bo decide it’s their chance to enter the movie business.
Bo has left the payment for a drug deal in a locker at Los Angeles International Airport, but the Colombian sent to pick it up doesn’t feel safe unlocking the locker. Bo meets the Colombian at the limo garage, and when he threatens to tell the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) who Bo is, Bo kills him.
Bo offers the locker money to Harry as an investment in the great script and tells him to send Chili to get the money to remove his rival from the scene. Chili senses something is wrong, signs out a nearby locker as a test, and is taken for questioning by DEA agents.
Chili gets a meeting with Martin Weir, an A-list Hollywood actor and Karen’s ex-husband. Martin loves the character that is Chili and now Chili has got the interest of an A-list actor.
Bones comes to Los Angeles looking for the money Chili collected from the dry cleaner, and finds the key to the locker from the drug deal in one of Chili's pockets, as Chili intends. He goes to the airport to get it and is arrested by drug officials.
Bo falls to his death through the railing of his sun deck that his henchman has unscrewed after deciding that Chili represents a better chance at getting into a better line of business.
Chili decides that Martin Weir is too short to play him and thinks about how to end the dry cleaner’s story.
Cast
- John Travolta as Chili Palmer:
A Miami mobster, loan shark, and film buff who gets involved in the film industry.
- Gene Hackman as Harry Zimm:
A debt-ridden B movie film director and producer.
- Rene Russo as Karen Flores:
A B movie scream queen actress dissatisfied with her career. Karen is the ex-wife of famed actor Martin Weir.
- Danny DeVito as Martin Weir:
A successful and two-time Academy Award nominee actor, who Chili and Karen pursue to star in his film.
- Dennis Farina as Ray "Bones" Barboni, Chili's new mob boss.
- Delroy Lindo as Bo Catlett, a Los Angeles limo company owner and drug dealer
- James Gandolfini and Jon Gries as Bear and Ronnie Wingate, two members of Bo's crew.
- David Paymer and Linda Hart as Leo and Faye Devoe, a couple who commit insurance fraud.
- Miguel Sandoval as Mr. Escobar, a Mexican mobster and high level drug dealer.
- Jacob Vargas as Yayo Portillo, Escobar's nephew.
- Bette Midler as Doris Saffron, Murray Saffron's widow and Harry's new girlfriend.
- Martin Ferrero as Tommy Carlo, the key member of Chili's Miami crew.
- Renee Props as Nicki, Martin's live in musician girlfriend. Nicki is the woman who broke up Karen's marriage to Martin Weir.
Get Shorty also features an appearance from the real Ernest "Chili" Palmer, a Miami loan shark and mob-connected man who inspired the original character.[4]
Soundtrack
The movie features an acid- and soul-jazz themed soundtrack with songs by Us3, Morphine, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Greyboy and Medeski Martin & Wood alongside original compositions by John Lurie.[5] The soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy Award (1997 - Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television).[6]
Production
Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and Michael Keaton were offered the role of Chlil Palmer but all of whom declined.[7][8] Sonnenfeld considered Samuel L. Jackson for the role of Bo Catlett.[9] Steve Buscemi and Matthew McConaughey were considered for the role of Ronnie Wingate.[10]
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 7.74/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a perfect cast and a sly twist on the usual Hollywood gangster dynamic, Get Shorty delivers a sharp satire that doubles as an entertaining comedy-thriller in its own right."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[12] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "B+" on scale of A+ to F.[13]
The film was entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival.[14]
The film opened at #1 upon its release (10/20-22) with $12.7 million.[15] Get Shorty remained #1 for three consecutive weeks before being overtaken by Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.[16]
Accolades
For his role as Chili Palmer, John Travolta received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
