This adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel explores the murky world of Hollywood’s links to organised crime.
John Travolta plays Florida gangster Chili Palmer, who arrives in Tinseltown to collect a bad debt from sleazeball movie producer Gene Hackman and decides to stay, importing his strong-arm methods into movie production.
Made in the wake of Pulp Fiction (1994), Get Shorty was the first attempt by a major studio to cash in on Quentin Tarantino’s style.
The performances by the impressive cast are exquisite: the jowly Travolta has tremendous charm but also considerable menace; Danny DeVito plays a movie star to perfection, and Hackman is a sheer delight as the purveyor of schlocky monster movies.
Add Rene Russo and unbilled cameos by Bette Midler and Harvey Keitel and you have a snazzy treat.
Chili Palmer
John Travolta
Harry Zimm
Gene Hackman
Karen Flores
Rene Russo
Martin Weir
Danny DeVito
Ray “Bones” Barboni
Dennis Farina
Bo Catlett
Delroy Lindo
Bear
James Gandolfini
Ronnie Wingate
Jonathan Gries
Nicki
Rene Props
Leo Devoe
David Paymer
Tommy Carlo
Martin Ferrero
Mr Escobar
Miguel Sandoval
Yayo Portillo
Jacob Vargas
Fay Devoe
Linda Hart
Dick Allen
Bobby Slayton
Doris
Bette Midler
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Penny Marshall
Penny Marshall
Doorman
Barry Sonnenfeld
Director
Barry Sonnenfeld
