This entry was posted on Friday, May 11th, 2007 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Action/Comedy, Comedy, G. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Dennis Farina, David Paymer
This action/comedy, based on an Elmore Leonard novel, is a very un-Hollywood script about Hollywood. It has the stars, the glitz and the top talent quality, but it is subtle. Hollywood rarely does subtle and it is rarer still to find an action/comedy with the patience and confidence that its viewers will get under-the-top jokes, but this is just such a movie. It has a wonderful story and great performances starting with John Travolta, whose understated lead performance sets the tone for the picture, which also amuses us with a tongue-in-cheek, in-the-know, Hollywood mood. Look for the rest of the cast to slip into their roles with the grace of the polished professionals they are.
John Travolta is Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark, oozing cool and courage. A movie buff, Palmer turns a west coast business trip to find a missing dry cleaner, into a foray into showbiz. Once there, he meets a beautiful B-movie actress (Rene Russo) and a low-budget movie producer (Gene Hackman) who needs help with both a cheap hood, played by Delroy Lindo, and a high-rent movie star played by Danny DeVito. Chili glides his way through his time in Tinsel Town like an ice cube sliding slowly into a glass of mineral water. The story has the Elmore Leonard signature depth, great dialogue and well-developed characters.
This is one of my favorite flicks and I’ve probably seen it more times than is necessary for any non-addicted movie fan. Is admitting I have a problem the first step? So be it. I love the gentle humour, Chili’s character and the clever story. For those who haven’t seen it, imagine Oceans 11 where Billy Ocean is alone and his goal is to make a movie instead of rob a casino. There was an unfortunate sequel, but I will say no more of that here.
