Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995)

Posted on 26 september 2010 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘They can die quickly. They can die slowly. But they must die!’

Directed by:
Gary Fleder

Written by:
Scott Rosenberg

Cast:
Andy Garcia (Jimmy ‘The Saint’ Tosnia), Christopher Lloyd (Pieces), William Forsythe (Franchise), Bill Nunn (Easy Wind), Treat Williams (Critical Bill), Jack Warden (Joe Heff), Steve Buscemi (Mister Shhh), Fairuza Balk (Lucinda), Gabrielle Anwar (Dagney), Christopher Walken (The Man with the Plan)

Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) is a decent guy with a criminal background. He now runs a video business where dying people can record final words of wisdom for their loved ones.

Things are going well for Jimmy: he meets a nice girl (Gabrielle Anwar) and leads a pleasant life, but then his old boss calls for him. The crippled gangster ‘The Man with the Plan’ (Christopher Walken) asks Jimmy to do one final job. Jimmy agrees and brings along four old friends. The job goes horribly wrong, and the five friends are now marked for death.

What is especially notable about Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead is the awesome cast. The ‘good’ guys are a wonderful collection (Lloyd, Forsythe, Williams, Nunn), with a charismatic Garcia in the lead. The other camp isn’t shy of great players either: Christopher Walken gives a very sinister performance, but the scene-stealer is Steve Buscemi. The scenes in which his character Mr. Shhh appears are the best in the whole movie.

The problem with Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead is that during the first hour, it is hard to see what the makers wanted to achieve. It appears to be a whacky gangster film / black comedy, seemingly inspired by Tarantino, who brought out Pulp Fiction a year earlier. But if that is the case, it is not whacky enough – and not funny enough, for that matter.

When Christopher Lloyd starts talking about the good old days and says, “We did the things,” I couldn’t help but think: why not now? There is too much talking about stuff that happened before the movie. Things to do in Denver when you’re dead? These guys don’t even do stuff when they’re alive!

Then again, as the movie approaches its ending, it becomes clearer what the screenplay is aiming for. The ending is a fairly impressive piece of writing. It makes you think about death, only in an enjoyable way. Now that can’t be too bad, can it?

Rating:

Quote:
CRITICAL BILL: “I am Godzilla, you are Japan!”

Trivia:
Screenplay writer Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, High Fidelity) wrote the script in two weeks. It was partly in reflection to the death of his father from cancer.

The Untouchables (1987)

Posted on 12 oktober 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘AL CAPONE. He rules Chicago with absolute power. No one could touch him. No one could stop him. Until Eliot Ness and a small force of men swore they’d bring him down.’

Directed by:
Brian De Palma

Written by:
Oscar Fraley (book)
Eliot Ness (book)
David Mamet (screenplay)

Cast:
Kevin Costner (Eliot Ness), Sean Connery (Jim Malone), Charles Martin Smith (Oscar Wallace), Andy Garcia (George Stone), Robert De Niro (Al Capone), Richard Bradford (Police Chief Mike Dorsett), Jack Kehoe (Walter Payne), Brad Sullivan (George), Billy Drago (Frank Nitti), Patricia Clarkson (Catherine Ness)

Chicago in the 1930’s was a very dangerous place. This was mainly the result of the Volstead Act that reinforced the prohibition of alcohol and allowed such gang lords as Al Capone to literally make a killing. The story of treasury officer Eliot Ness and his squad of untouchables had already been told in the classic television show from the sixties, but director Brian De Palma figured it was time for a movie update. And boy was he right…

The Untouchables just radiates class throughout its running time. The first masterful scene occurs when a newspaper gets delivered in Al Capone’s hotel bedroom. The camera sways from the street, through the hotel and into Capone’s bedroom where the larger-than-life gangster is smoking a massive cigar in bed and laughs at the newspaper’s headline: ‘Crusader cop busts out’. Ennio Morricone composed a very cool piece of music for this scene.

The newspaper is referring to Eliot Ness’ first failure to confiscate Capone’s booze. Ness (Kevin Costner) is determined to bring Capone down, but he doesn’t know how to do it. Irish street cop Jim Malone (Sean Connery) suggests a more unorthodox approach to get it done.

Malone is hesitant at first to join Ness’ team, but gradually evolves into a true fighter. A very impressive and Oscar winning performance by Sean Connery. Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith are in equally fine shape. They portray the other members of Ness’ squad. Garcia as the hot-headed, but talented rookie cop George Stone and Smith as a public accountant, whose ideas about income tax evasion would eventually lead to Capone’s downfall.

Costner as the leading man was also the perfect choice. Although he can’t get rid of his goodie goodie two shoes image, despite the violent acts he eventually commits in the film, he is still an inspiring person to watch. He even managed to touch me in the heart one or two times.

Of course, De Niro is once again the show stealer. His method acting really works at its best in The Untouchables. In fact, it works so well that I totally forgot I was watching De Niro: I was watching Al Capone. His character is what he’s supposed to be: an extremely dominant and intimidating personality. In a famous scene based on a true incident, Capone demonstrates his powers. During a black tie dinner with all his cronies, he shockingly beats one of them to death with a baseball bat.

The violence described above is characterising for De Palma’s approach in making this film. Brains are painting the ceiling on more than one occasion. The brutality is justified though as it really helps to better understand Ness’ determination to get the job done. Drinking may be innocent, but when you touch a man’s family, his friends and innocents in general, it is very understandable that he is driven to despair and acts of brutal violence.

De Palma’s direction on this movie is flawless. His trademark suspense is evident from the credit sequence on, up until the amazing train station shoot-out at the end. Every scene in The Untouchables is just perfect in setting, rhythm, composition and acting. He has made a timeless film that deserves to be celebrated a lot more than it currently is.

Rating:

Quote:
AL CAPONE: “I want this man DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burnt to the ground. I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna piss on his ashes!”

Trivia:
Robert De Niro tracked down Al Capone’s original tailors and had them make him some identical clothing for the movie. He also insisted on wearing the same style of silk underwear that the real Capone wore.

Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Posted on 29 augustus 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘May the best hitman win’

Directed by:
Joe Carnahan

Written by:
Joe Carnahan

Cast:
Ryan Reynolds (Richard Messner), Ray Liotta (Donald Carruthers), Jeremy Piven (Buddy Israel), Andy Garcia (Stanley Locke), Ben Affleck (Jack Dupree), Alicia Keys (Georgia Sykes), Taraji P. Henson (Sharica Watters), Vladimir Kulich (The Swede), Peter Berg (‘Pistol’ Pete Deeks), Common (Sir Ivy)

The Guy Ritchie formula can be and has been used to successfully create crowd-pleasing crime comedies. Smokin’ Aces comes across as such an attempt, but misfires badly in many ways.

In its setting, the US Cosa Nostra is nearly completely dismantled by the government. Two remaining fractions are entangled in an all-out war, while the feds are closing in on both of them. One fraction belongs to Vegas showman Buddy ‘Ace’ Israel (Jeremy Piven), who is about to spill the beans on the entire organisation of his former protégé, the dying mob boss Primo Sparraza.

To prevent Israel from talking, Sparraza puts out a million dollar contract on his head, which attracts every loony hitman- and woman from the country and beyond. They all head towards the coke snorting Israel, who is holed up in a Lake Tahoe casino-hotel, while two FBI agents (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta) want to get to him first and make him participate in the Witness Protection Programme.

This set-up ensures some fireworks, but a complete lack of character development takes away the impact that the many deaths could have had. Closest things to a main character is Reynolds’, whose agent has no background story whatsoever. When the ridiculous plot twist at the end establishes him as just a puppet on a string, he becomes another potentially interesting character that is hard to give a toss about.

Richie’s early films teach us that in order to make a film like this work, you’ll need more than just flashy camera tricks. For one thing, violence needs to serve the story or it becomes gratuitous like it does here. You also need humour and a light tone. It is unexplainable why director Carnahan uses such dramatic music all the time. It makes it seem as though there is a message. There is none.

Finally, all the different plot threads need to seamlessly fit in the greater whole. Smokin’ Aces leaves plots dangling or delivers unsatisfying outcomes. Not that you’ll care, since there are barely intriguing characters in this movie. It will just make you wonder who has green lit this thing and make such an impressive ensemble cast go to waste.

Rating: