Get Shorty (1995)

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Starring John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Delroy Lindo, Dennis Farina, Danny DeVito, James Gandolfini, Jon Gries, Martin Ferrero, Bette Midler, David Paymer, Linda Hart, Miguel Sandoval, Jacob Vargas, Renee Props. [R]

Miami loan shark Chili Palmer (Travolta) heads for Hollywood to collect a bad debt from B-movie producer Hackman, decides to stick around and try out a “career transition” by pitching a movie idea while fending off a crook (Lindo) who’s invested in one of Hackman’s upcoming productions. Sly, unflappable crime-comedy satirizes both Hollywood and gangster pictures, with a twisty, tongue-in-cheek narrative from an Elmore Leonard novel that feels forged in the fiery limbo between the early careers of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie (heck, Travolta is only a few degrees removed from Pulp Fiction’s Vincent Vega, and Farina’s vituperative mob boss might as well be the cousin of Snatch’s Avi Denovitz). Cast is more than capable of playing the droll material at acute angles, and self-mockery is almost always appealing in appropriate clothing, and what’s more appropriate than equating the biz with superficial swindlers, thieves and killers? Nimble, jazzy score by John Lurie. Co-star DeVito (the “shorty” of the title) also co-produced. A sequel (Be Cool) and a television series followed.

79/100