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'{{short description|1995 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld}} {{Infobox film | name = Get Shorty | image = Get_shorty.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[Barry Sonnenfeld]] | producer = [[Danny DeVito]]<br />[[Michael Shamberg]]<br />[[Stacey Sher]] | screenplay = [[Scott Frank]] | based_on = {{Based on|''[[Get Shorty]]''|[[Elmore Leonard]]}} | starring = {{Plainlist| * [[John Travolta]] * [[Gene Hackman]] * [[Rene Russo]] * [[Danny DeVito]] }}<!-- per poster --> | music = [[John Lurie]] | cinematography = [[Donald Peterman]]<ref name="latimes">{{cite news | title=Perry Moore, 'Narnia' series executive producer, dies at 39; Don Peterman, Oscar-nominated cinematographer, dies at 79; Nancy Carr, network TV publicist, dies at 50 | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20110221,0,2646777.story | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=2011-02-22 | access-date=2011-02-23 | archive-date=2013-10-29 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192237/http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20110221,0,2646777.story | url-status=live }}</ref> | editing = [[Jim Miller (film editor)|Jim Miller]] | studio = Jersey Films | distributor = [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] | released = {{Film date|1995|10|20}} | runtime = 105 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $30 million<ref>{{cite web | url= https://collider.com/why-get-shorty-is-one-of-the-best-crime-comedies-ever/ | title= Why 'Get Shorty' Is One of the Best Crime Comedies Ever | work= Collider |date= October 21, 2020 | access-date= February 5, 2021 }}</ref> | gross = $115.1 million<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0113161/?ref_=bo_rl_ti |title= ''Get Shorty'' |work= [[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date= 5 November 2011 |archive-date= 15 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201115153354/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3897918977/weekend/ |url-status= live }}</ref> }} '''''Get Shorty''''' is a 1995 American [[gangster]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[Barry Sonnenfeld]] and written by [[Scott Frank]]. It is based on [[Elmore Leonard]]'s [[Get Shorty|novel of the same name]] and stars [[John Travolta]], [[Gene Hackman]], [[Rene Russo]], and [[Danny DeVito]]. ''Get Shorty'' follows Chili Palmer (Travolta), a Miami mobster and loan shark who inadvertently gets involved in feature film production after traveling to Los Angeles to collect a casino debt from [[B movie|B-movie]] director Harry Zimm (Hackman). ''Get Shorty'' was followed by a sequel, ''[[Be Cool]]'', in 2005, and in 2017 inspired a [[Get Shorty (TV series)|television series of the same name]]. ==Plot== Ernesto "Chili" Palmer, a small-time loan shark based in Miami, gets his jacket stolen by Ray "Bones" Barboni, a mobster from another crew. Chili goes to Bones and takes his jacket back, punching him in the face and breaking his nose. When Bones tries to attack Chili in revenge, Chili shoots him in the head non-fatally, leaving him with an ugly scar. Bones tries to have Chili killed, but is unsuccessful because the bosses of their crews don’t want to start a mob war. Later, the boss of Chili’s crew dies of a heart attack and Bones inherits Chili’s list of outstanding loans, which has to be handed over with up to date payments. Chili has written one of them off since the client, a dry cleaner, died in a plane crash, but it turns out that the dry cleaner didn’t board the plane after checking in and has scammed the airline out of $300,000 in life insurance, which he is enjoying in Vegas. While Chili is tracking down the dry cleaner at a casino, the casino's head of security asks for his help to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a horror film producer in Los Angeles. Chili sneaks into the house of actress Karen Flores in the middle of the night, where Harry is staying. Chili tells Harry the dry cleaner’s story as if it’s an idea for a movie, seeing an opportunity to get into a better line of business. Harry sees an opportunity in getting a tough guy to help him out and asks for Chili's help in finessing a $200,000 investment from Bo Catlett – owner of a limo service as a front for drug dealing who also wants to get into a better line of business – in a horror movie he can’t make because he gambled it away, which is why Chili has come calling. Chili is pulling this off when Harry errs by revealing the film he really wants to make, one with a great script. Both Chili and Bo decide it’s their chance to enter the movie business. Bo has left the payment for a drug deal in a locker at [[Los Angeles International Airport]], but the Colombian sent to pick it up doesn’t feel safe unlocking the locker. The Columbian tells Bo that if he is arrested, he will say that he's on an errand for Bo. This leads to Bo shooting and killing him. Soon after, Bo is visited by the head drug lord, who demands his money as well as the return of the messenger -- who was his nephew -- that Bo killed. Chili gets a meeting with Martin Weir, an A-list Hollywood actor and Karen’s ex-husband. Martin loves the character that is Chili and now Chili has got the interest of an A-list actor. Harry becomes jealous of Chili and Karen's partnership and suspicious that they're going to steal his project. Feeding Harry's suspicions, Bo offers the locker money to Harry as an investment in the great script and tells him to send Chili with the key to get the money to remove his rival from the scene. Chili senses something is wrong, signs out a nearby locker as a test, and is taken for questioning by DEA agents. Bear accosts Chili in a parking garage and demands the key. Chili knocks the wind out of him and then, fascinated by Bear's former work as a Hollywood stunt man, strikes up a conversation about movies with him. After Harry drunkenly telephones him, Bones comes to Los Angeles looking for the money Chili collected from the dry cleaner. He surprises Harry at his office and, after it becomes clear that Harry doesn't know where the money is, he beats him brutally. Bo's partner Ronnie shows up and Bones shoots him. Desperate, Bo kidnaps Karen and tells Chili to bring the dry-cleaner's money to his house to ransom her. Chili arrives and gets into a fight with Bear, during which Bo falls through the railing of his deck to his death, having been set up by Chili and Bear. Chili returns to his hotel where he is surprised by Bones, who demands the money. Searching Chili's pockets, he finds the airport locker key and Chili tells him the money is in it. Bones goes to open the locker, watched by DEA agents, and the scene switches to the movie version of the story, starring Martin Weir and produced by Chili and Karen. Chili complains to Martin's agent that Martin is too short to play him, and he and Karen leave the studio to go to lunch. ==Cast== <!-- Names are in credits order and named as credited; DO NOT CHANGE. --> <!-- Cast per opening credits order. --> * [[John Travolta]] as Chili Palmer: <br /> A Miami mobster, loan shark, and film buff who gets involved in the film industry. * [[Gene Hackman]] as Harry Zimm: <br /> A debt-ridden [[B movie]] film director and producer. * [[Rene Russo]] as Karen Flores: <br /> A B movie scream queen actress dissatisfied with her career. Karen is the ex-wife of famed actor Martin Weir. * [[Danny DeVito]] as Martin Weir: <br /> A successful and two-time Academy Award nominee actor, who Chili and Karen pursue to star in his film. * [[Dennis Farina]] as Ray "Bones" Barboni, Chili's new mob boss. * [[Delroy Lindo]] as Bo Catlett, a Los Angeles limo company owner and drug dealer * [[James Gandolfini]] and [[Jon Gries]] as Bear and Ronnie Wingate, two members of Bo's crew. * [[David Paymer]] and [[Linda Hart]] as Leo and Faye Devoe, a couple who commit insurance fraud. * [[Miguel Sandoval]] as Mr. Escobar, a Mexican mobster and high level drug dealer. * [[Jacob Vargas]] as Yayo Portillo, Escobar's nephew. * [[Bette Midler]] as Doris Saffron, Murray Saffron's widow and Harry's new girlfriend. * [[Martin Ferrero]] as Tommy Carlo, the key member of Chili's Miami crew. * [[Renee Props]] as Nicki, Martin's live in musician girlfriend. Nicki is the woman who broke up Karen's marriage to Martin Weir. * [[Bobby Slayton]] as Dick Allen * [[Ron Karabatsos]] as Momo * [[Jack Conley (actor)|Jack Conley]] as Agent Dunbar * [[Bernard Hocke]] as Agent Morgan * [[Vito Scotti]] as Manager at Vesuvio's * [[Rino Piccolo]] as Waiter at Vesuvio's * [[Alfred Dennis]] as Ed the Barber * [[Ralph Manza]] as Fred the Barber * [[Patrick Breen]] as Assistant Doctor * [[Barry Sonnenfeld]] as Doorman * [[Rebeca Arthur]] as Las Vegas Waitress * [[Leslie Bega]] as Vikki Vespa (uncredited) * [[Marlene Dietrich]] as Tanya (archive footage) (uncredited) * [[David Groh]] as Buddy Lipton (uncredited) * [[Charlton Heston]] as Mike Vargas (archive footage) (uncredited) * [[Harvey Keitel]] as Harvey Keitel (uncredited) * [[David Letterman]] as David Letterman (archive footage) (uncredited) * [[Penny Marshall]] as Penny Marshall (uncredited) * [[Dean Martin]] as Dude (archive footage) (uncredited) * [[Alex Rocco]] as Jimmy Capp (Ray Bones' Boss) (uncredited) * [[John Wayne]] as Sheriff John T. Chance (archive footage) (uncredited) * [[Orson Welles]] as Police Captain Hank Quinlan (archive footage) (uncredited) Get Shorty also features an appearance from the real Ernest "Chili" Palmer, a Miami loan shark and mob-connected man who inspired the original character.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1995-11-05/entertainment/17982997_1_shorty-hollywood-aspirations-shark | title=The Real Chili Palmer | author=Anne E. Kornblut | newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] | date=November 5, 1995 | access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref> ==Soundtrack== The movie features an acid- and soul-jazz themed soundtrack with songs by [[Us3]], [[Morphine (band)|Morphine]], [[Booker T. & the M.G.'s]], [[DJ Greyboy|Greyboy]] and [[Medeski Martin & Wood]] alongside original compositions by [[John Lurie]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1995-10-30-9510300050-story.html | title='Get Shorty' Scores A Hit With Funky Soundtrack | date=October 30, 1995 | newspaper=[[Dallas Morning News]] | last=Okamoto | first=David | access-date=January 16, 2022 | via=[[Chicago Tribune]] }}</ref> The soundtrack was [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|nominated]] for a Grammy Award (1997 - Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/john-lurie | title=Artist: John Lurie | website=[[Grammy Award]] | access-date=June 14, 2017 | archive-date=November 15, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115153354/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/john-lurie/4533 | url-status=live }}</ref> ==Production== [[Warren Beatty]], [[Dustin Hoffman]] and [[Michael Keaton]] were offered the role of Chili Palmer but they all declined.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70032/15-fast-talking-facts-about-get-shorty |title=15 Fast-Talking Facts About Get Shorty |date=October 21, 2015 |website=www.mentalfloss.com }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-29-ca-7368-story.html |title=Hangin' With 'Shorty' : A Comic Hollywood Crime Novel Has Brought Out the Tough-Guy Stars--Including John Travolta|first1=PATRICK GOLDSTEIN|last1=May 29|first2=1995 12 Am|last2=Pt|date=May 29, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Sonnenfeld considered [[Samuel L. Jackson]] for the role of Bo Catlett.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/delroy-lindo-1798224092 |title=Netflix's Da 5 Bloods star Delroy Lindo on his most famous roles| website=The A.V. Club }}</ref> [[Steve Buscemi]] and [[Matthew McConaughey]] were considered for the role of Ronnie Wingate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/jon-gries-1798211401 |title=Jon Gries|website=The A.V. Club}}</ref> ==Reception== On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 7.74/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a perfect cast and a sly twist on the usual Hollywood gangster dynamic, ''Get Shorty'' delivers a sharp satire that doubles as an entertaining comedy-thriller in its own right."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|get_shorty|Get Shorty}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{Metacritic film}}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade "B+" on scale of A+ to F.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= GET SHORTY (1995) B+ |work= [[CinemaScore]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref> The film was entered into the [[46th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1996/02_programm_1996/02_Programm_1996.html |title=Berlinale: 1996 Programme |access-date=2012-01-01 |work=berlinale.de |archive-date=2012-01-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120040013/http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1996/02_programm_1996/02_Programm_1996.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The film opened at #1 upon its release (10/20-22) with $12.7 million.<ref>{{cite news |title= Weekend Box Office : 'Shorty' Stands Tall in Ticket Sales |author= Robert W. Welkos |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date= 24 October 1995 |url= http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-24/entertainment/ca-60434_1_opening-weekend |access-date= 5 November 2011 |archive-date= 4 November 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121104163840/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-10-24/entertainment/ca-60434_1_opening-weekend |url-status= live }}</ref> ''Get Shorty'' remained #1 for three consecutive weeks before being overtaken by ''[[Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=1995&wknd=45&p=.htm |title= Weekend Box Office November 10–12, 1995 |work= [[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date= 5 November 2011 |archive-date= 15 November 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201115153344/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/1995W45/ |url-status= live }}</ref> ===Accolades=== {{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}} For his role as Chili Palmer, John Travolta received the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]]. The film also received nominations for the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy]] and the [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{wikiquote|Get Shorty}} * {{IMDb title|0113161|Get Shorty}} * {{Amg movie|135656|Get Shorty}} * {{tcmdb title|id=76162}} * {{AFI film|id=59901|title=Get Shorty}} {{Elmore Leonard}} {{Barry Sonnenfeld}} {{Danny DeVito}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Get Shorty (Film)}} [[Category:1995 films]] [[Category:1990s crime comedy films]] [[Category:1990s satirical films]] [[Category:American crime comedy films]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:American black comedy films]] [[Category:American satirical films]] [[Category:Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles]] [[Category:Films based on works by Elmore Leonard]] [[Category:Films based on American novels]] [[Category:Films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld]] [[Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance]] [[Category:Films produced by Danny DeVito]] [[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]] [[Category:Films set in Miami]] [[Category:Mafia comedy films]] [[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films]] [[Category:Films with screenplays by Scott Frank]] [[Category:1995 comedy films]]'