It's really too easy to compare Go to Pulp Fiction; it just goes without saying. Tons of movies were released in the 90's that followed Tarantino's flair of crime movies with quirky characters, dark comedic moments and non-linear timelines. Go sits squarely with films like Snatch and Get Shorty as one of the better ones, the ones that have their own style and don't feel like a Tarantino knock-off.
Go is a clever film, with a tight and solid script. The characters aren't quite interesting enough and the atmosphere isn't quite stylish enough to make it as memorable as Guy Ritchie's early work, but it's a fun ride which supplies thrills and laughs all the way through, though it lacks in character depth and development, partly because it stuffs too many characters into just under 100 minutes. Stylistically, Go feels a bit too much like a TV production; the fact that most of the cast are by now familiar TV mainstays doesn't help - Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek), Scott Wolf (Table for Five, Everwood), Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), William Fichtner (Prison Break), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) and Jay Mohr (Action, Garry Unmarried) are all quite good but many of them feel amateurish at times, and don't help much in defining the already shallow characters.
All of which makes Go feel a little like a writing student's exercise, with too little for the viewer to relate or connect to; but it's clever, fast-paced and entertaining enough to be very rewarding, especially at its modest runtime. It's a lightweight movie that won't stay with you too long, but it's tons of fun to watch.
Go is a clever film, with a tight and solid script. The characters aren't quite interesting enough and the atmosphere isn't quite stylish enough to make it as memorable as Guy Ritchie's early work, but it's a fun ride which supplies thrills and laughs all the way through, though it lacks in character depth and development, partly because it stuffs too many characters into just under 100 minutes. Stylistically, Go feels a bit too much like a TV production; the fact that most of the cast are by now familiar TV mainstays doesn't help - Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek), Scott Wolf (Table for Five, Everwood), Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), William Fichtner (Prison Break), Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) and Jay Mohr (Action, Garry Unmarried) are all quite good but many of them feel amateurish at times, and don't help much in defining the already shallow characters.
All of which makes Go feel a little like a writing student's exercise, with too little for the viewer to relate or connect to; but it's clever, fast-paced and entertaining enough to be very rewarding, especially at its modest runtime. It's a lightweight movie that won't stay with you too long, but it's tons of fun to watch.