Get Shorty
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
- comedy
- thriller
- crime
The story
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.
What it’s like
Bright, sun-warmed Los Angeles days and sleek, air-conditioned interiors, with Miami's humid glare and dim, wood-panelled bars set against them. Sonnenfeld frames his people with wide, confident compositions and lets the camera drift through offices, poolside lounges and studio lots with an easy, unhurried glide, while the cutting stays crisp and the jokes land in the pauses between lines. The score is jazzy and loose, like a lounge band playing just for the room. The vibe is smooth, wry and cool-headed, the kind of breezy crime comedy that suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a long flight, or a second watch with friends. Violence is present and sudden, including a few shootings and a beating, but it is quick and mostly played for irony rather than gore, and there is some casual profanity and sexual talk. The central arc is a gruff, streetwise hustler who discovers that he has more in common with Hollywood's bullies than he expected, and a rumpled widow who finds her own steady footing. It suits viewers who enjoy sharp dialogue, sly performances and a crook's-eye view of an industry built on bluffing.
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