Stars: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny De Vito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, David Paymer, James Gandolfini

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Summary: Chili Palmer is a loan shark heading off to LA to track down a man called Leo, who owes him money. On his travels he meets a producer and his actress girlfriend and together they set about recruiting actor Martin Weir for a part in their movie.

This slick adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1990 novel features John Travolta as Chili Palmer, a Miami loan shark who's been sent to L.A. to collect on a bad debt from trash movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), the maker of the stunning flops "Grotesque" and "Slime People." But this is Harry's lucky day, because Chili is also a film buff, and when he's done talking tough he starts pitching Harry a script idea. As everyone knows, the best background for the motion picture industry is the criminal underworld, and Chili is smoothly launched into the life of a producer: romancing a B-movie scream queen, schmoozing superstars, getting reservations in the hottest restaurants in town. However, Chili's not the only mobster wanting to turn producer. It seems that a thug named Bo Catlett (Delroy Lindo), another of Harry's lenders, also wants a piece of the action. Add in a group of angry drug smugglers and there is an abundance of double- and triple-crosses, as well as plenty of wisecracks and Hollywood insider jokes. GET SHORTY crosses the line of life imitating art--and vice versa--many times, including the real Ernest "Chili" Palmer (on whom the character is based) playing a Mafia henchman. Barry Sonnenfeld's entertaining romp is a wild look at the celebrity life in Hollywood, featuring numerous cameos of stars playing themselves.

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John Travolta is the standout in this somewhat cartoonish adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel about a smalltime Miami enforcer (Travolta) who decides to get into the movie business in LA. The cast sparkles--Gene Hackman as a failing cut-rate-movie producer, Rene Russo as a failed actress, Danny DeVito as a vain thespian, Delroy Lindo as a mobster who wants a cut of Travolta's film action--and the script is clever. But not clever enough: this isn't Robert Altman's The Player, as far as satires about Hollywood go. But director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black) keeps Get Shortycute and brisk and that makes for an enjoyable experience. Travolta is great as a vaguely dangerous, supremely self-confident man whose love of movies makes him almost cuddly. --Tom Keogh

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	8 Page Booklet, Interactive Menu Screens, Chapter Search, Original Theatrical Trailer
Subtitles:	Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
Year:	1995
Release Date:	February 1, 2000
Runtime:	101 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	15812 D V D
Keywords:	Comedy, General, Wide, Screen, Get, Shorty
Genre:	Comedy