Conference bookie::movies

    Terrific movie - one of the best of the year.  The story was fabulous,
    very clever anda true to the Elmore Leonard novel.  Travolta was great,
    Hackman was terrific, Russo was wonderful, and there are several cameos
    that fit right into the movie.  And DeVito was simply too much!
    
    9 out of 10
    
    NAZZ

    Saw it this Sunday evening, it was great entertainment.  Loved
    every twist and turn in the plot.  It's a keeper.
    
    

	It was dumb.

RE .3 - That's a bit terse. :-)  Could you give some reasons why you felt
that way?  

-- Nina

  I liked this movie quite a bit. I wasn't the Oscar type movie that I expected
given it's unanimous string of "thumbs up" from all the critics but it is a
very good movie, very entertaining. 

  I agree it was a little dumb. Any time you have a funny mob movie there is
obviously a bit of a credibility gap but once you accept the premise then the
story is good and the acting is tremendous with John Travolta and Gene Hackman
doing excellent work and the others doing a fine job as well. 

  Definite go see but don't expect Good Fella's.

  **** out of 5,
  George

    Fast-moving story, nice soundtrack (Booker T. & the MGs, among others,)
    complicated plot that you don't need to take too seriously, some funny,
    deadpan scenes.  
    
    I have some misgivings about movies that seem to glamourize mobsters, I
    admit.  In this one, Travolta's character is a gangster who is more or
    less redeemed by his love of movies, and is also brighter than the
    other gangsters, who are all brutal thugs.  The female lead, Rene
    Russo, is also pretty smart.  She plays an actress who hooks up with 
    Travolta, who's in L.A. to collect a bad gambling debt from Gene 
    hackman's character, an ambitious, flakey film-maker.  Travolta decides
    he wants to get into the movie business.  There are about 3 other sets
    of thugs, 2 big bags of ill-gotten cash, some great dialogue.  The
    violence is mainly of the unexpected smash to the face variety, though
    there are also a couple of gunshot murders.
    
    I thought this was a pretty entertaining movie that did a better job
    than most of keeping things moving and amusing the audience without
    resorting to explosions or car chases.  Lots of loose ends, and not
    much depth, but a good movie.
    
    -Stephen

    Saying Travolta's character was "brighter than the other gangsters" is
    damning with faint praise.  The thing I liked most about this movie was
    that every character had a double digit IQ, some just a lot lower than
    others.  Travolta's may have been the smartest, but he was no genius!
    
    NAZZ

  But he had the look.

  George

    Yes, Travolta was a competent man surrounded by idiots. 
    
    I especially liked the limo business owner's little discussion of the
    art of screenwriting.
    
    -Stephen

    This seems relevant:    
    
    The August 26 issue of `The Economist', pg. 87, reports statistical
    confirmation of something we already knew about Hollywood -- it's
    full of idiots.  It seems that 217 agents were send the script of an
    existing film.  They were asked to consider it, and were not told
    it was the script of an existing movie.  87 of the 217 responded.  Of
    those, only four liked it.  41 turned it down.  Eight said it sounded
    familiar, but couldn't place it.  Barely a third recognised it.
    
    The film?  Casablanca.
                            

    First half of this movie was    s  l   o   w. 
    
    I almost lost total interest. Fortunately, content and pace accelerated 
    in second half. Renewed interest and provided numerous chuckles.
    
    Gene Hackman was brillant! Instead of being the tough guy, he attempts
    to play the tough guy with less than successful results. 
    
    

    Travolta did a superb job. Hackman was great, too, but Travolta got
    more camera time. But it was the script that made this movie. In a
    sense it's kind of like real life, with screw-ups and betrayals.
    
    The airport locker scenes were particularly clever.
    
    OTOH, I preferred Dennis "Crime Story" Farnia with black hair.
    
      John

    I dunno, I wasn't that impressed.   I did laugh a few times, but I
    can't for the life of me remember the parts that were that funny.  Was
    it supposed to be a comedy?
    
    -dave

    I don't think it was that great either.  I liked the Player a lot
    better.  Travolta looks and acts good but I liked him in Pulp Fiction
    much better.

>>Was it supposed to be a comedy?

	I was told so. I dialed 617-333-film and picked this one under the
comedy category. No one in the theater laughed for anything.

-Jk

  Gallows humor maybe.

  George

    I thought it was a very good movie -- well written, nicely 
    directed and very funny. I laughed, and other people who paid
    actual money to get in, laughed as well. Now I won't pretend 
    that that's some sort of scientific sample, but the previously 
    described scenario involving the totally silent audience sounds 
    pretty weird -- not to mention a little creepy. Admittedly, 
    "Get Shorty" wasn't 100% pratfalls, things blowing up, and 
    cars crashing into fruit carts, but it was a comedy. I know
    it's not "Bio-Dome" but sheesh.  

    
    rented this film.
    and have decided I am sick to death of mob characters.
    And John Travolta.
    
    

    
    
    No wonder you're sick of Travolta if you went on a Travolta binge by
    seeing this one and Broken Arrow together.
    
    Chris
    :)