"Get Shorty" is a well made film with nice camera work and John Travolta is great -- he makes this movie. All of the other actors sort of play their usual typecast roles. It is entertaining and sometimes mildly amusing and shrewdly stops short of becoming too offensive. For those positives I will give it a 7/10 rating, but there are several negatives which make this a film that I will not revisit anytime soon. First, I dislike movies about making movies, they always become too meta and self-referential. A lot of the material feels too narrow-minded, like it's a lot of inside jokes for people from such depicted lifestyles, as if it were written by and for the entertainment of such people. As I have nothing in common with the people and storyline I felt unable to relate to it, but that can be said for most movies, however "Get Shorty" is one of those movies where the viewer is keenly aware of the fact that he is indeed watching a movie, they do not get lost in the drama, being caught up in the fictional universe. That is a big flaw for any movie, one which keeps it from being great.
Review of Get Shorty
