A slick, very watchable crime-comedy that turns Hollywood vanity into a punchline and a hustle. It’s especially rewarding if you like charismatic antiheroes, movie-biz satire, and breezy 90s studio filmmaking with a sharp Elmore Leonard snap.
56% ★★★☆☆ (168,143)
Get Shorty
Where to watch: Amazon
Movie · Comedy · Thriller · R
1995 · 1h 45m · ★ 56% (168.1K)
Attitude plays a part.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo
Overview
Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.
Director
Barry Sonnenfeld
Production
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Jersey Films
Cast
John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, Danny DeVito, Dennis Farina, Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini, Jon Gries, Renee Props, David Paymer, Martin Ferrero, Miguel Sandoval, Jacob Vargas, Linda Hart, Bette Midler, Bobby Slayton, Ron Karabatsos, Alison Waddell, Amber Waddell, John Cothran
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, very watchable crime-comedy that turns Hollywood vanity into a punchline and a hustle. It’s especially rewarding if you like charismatic antiheroes, movie-biz satire, and breezy 90s studio filmmaking with a sharp Elmore Leonard snap.
Best for
fans of crime comedies with a light, cool tone
viewers who enjoy Hollywood satire and movies-about-movies
people who like charismatic antiheroes and fast dialogue
fans of 1990s ensemble studio films
Skip if
you want a hard-edged or suspense-heavy thriller
you dislike self-aware industry satire
you prefer emotionally deep character studies over breezy capers
you’re not in the mood for a glossy, lightly cynical tone
Overview
Get Shorty is one of those movies that makes cynicism look effortless. It treats mobsters, producers, agents, and actors as variations on the same species: smooth talkers trying to close a deal. That idea gives the film its comic engine, and John Travolta’s easy confidence makes Chili Palmer feel like a guy who could negotiate his way out of anything.
Worth noting
What keeps it lively is the movie-business setting, which lets the film poke fun at Hollywood without losing affection for the people inside it. The jokes land because the film understands how vanity, desperation, and opportunism overlap in both crime and show business. It’s a satire, but it’s also a hangout movie with a great rhythm.
Bottom line
Barry Sonnenfeld gives it a polished, playful surface, and the cast fits the material well. It may not be a deep film, but it is a deeply agreeable one: smart, brisk, and built around the pleasure of watching a professional charm his way through chaos.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sam (4★) · 840 likes
Movies about movies are my drug of choice
Matt Singer (4★) · 645 likes
It is amazing how fast you can get cinephiles to love a loan shark who routinely threatens and beats people just by making him a fellow cinephile. Look at how excited Chili is to meet a stunt man! He knows the dialogue from Touch of Evil by heart! I can’t root against a guy like that.
SilentDawn (3.5★) · 379 likes
63 This film perfectly embodies its protagonist: John Travolta's Chili Palmer. A mobster who yearns to get into the movie business, it's so charming to watch a hardened guy follow his dreams, while collecting debts at the same time. The scene where he watches Touch of Evil, knowing every word of its cynical climax, distills so much of the character down to his essence. Overall, this is a fun mix of the post-modern wave ala Tarantino and the Hollywood satire,… more
𝚮𝖆𝖗𝖑𝖊𝖖𝖚𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖉𝖊 🙏🏻 (3★) · 350 likes
Frank Reynolds: The Hollywood Years
eddie (3.5★) · 334 likes
sometimes you just know a movie is gonna be a solid 3.5 from the opening few minutes and there’s something deeply comforting about that.