Review of Get Shorty (1995) by Tom H — 07 Oct 2007

This is quite possibly John Travolta's coolest roles since "Saturday Night Fever." He's Chili Palmer, a mobbed-up loan shark who knows exactly how to handle himself under pressure, who decides, on a trip out to L.

A., he'd like to go into the movie business. While this is not a straight-up adaptation of the novel by Elmore Leonard, the changes made are clever enough that he could just as well have written it that way.

It is truly the closest I have seen to capturing the feel of the man's work, with a pitch-perfect supporting cast.