Based on the best selling novel by Elmore Leonard, "Get Shorty" is a movie about Hollywood society, about the underworld, but most of all, it is a movie about movies. It parodies several facets of the motion picture industry from the B-horror movies produced by Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), to the Hollywood star who is dwarfed by the size of his ego, in this case Martin Weir (Danny DeVito), to the underlying mob connections to the industry. Every character contributes to the plot in a significant way, including Zimm, Chili Palmer (John Travolta), and Karen Flores (Rene Russo). Which brings us to Ray Barboni (Dennis Farina). The jive talking, wise cracking, smooth operating tough guy from Miami is a ruthless gangster who is out to get Chili, but you can't help but like his character. Some of his lines are among the best in the movie - after punching a woman in the face, he says "I want us to be friends, and both you and I know that friends...don't hit each other" - and the scene of him sitting on the toilet when the phone rings is, in my opinion, easily the most powerful in "Get Shorty." Also keep an eye on the subplots involving Yayo, Momo, Bear, and Bull, not to mention the cameo appearances by Harvey Keitel, Bette Midler, and Miguel Sandoval. It may take a couple times of watching the movie to figure out exactly what is going on, but that also means more opportunities to watch Ray Barboni torment his chauffeur about "the smog being the reason for the beautiful sunsets."
Review of Get Shorty
