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

Directed by:
Gary Fleder

COUNTRY
USA

GENRE
Crime/Drama/Thriller
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
RUNNING TIME
112 minutes

Produced by:
Cary Woods

Written by:
Scott Rosenberg


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia Andy Garcia ½
Pieces Christopher Lloyd
Franchise William Forsythe ½
Easy Wind Bill Nunn
Critical Bill Treat Williams
Joe Heff Jack Warden ½
Mister Shhh Steve Buscemi ½
Lucinda Fairuza Balk ½
Dagney Gabrielle Anwar ½
The Man With The Plan Christopher Walken ½
Malt Bill Cobbs
Lt. Atwater Marshall Bell
Baby Sinister Glenn Plummer
Gus Don Stark
Cuffy Willie Garson
Rooster Don Cheadle
House Tiny Lister

 

Review

From the smug title to the predictable ending, director Gary Fleder takes us on a style-over-substance tour through Denver. Given the subject matter – a bunch of ex-gangsters botching up their final job for a local crime boss before finding themselves on his kill list – this tour should have been an intense adrenaline rush, but we're feeling more in tune with the Andy Garcia character, who seems to think "We're gonna die, what's the big deal?". The script is by Scott Rosenberg, a man who has penned both great gems (Beautiful Girls) and great embarrassments (Armageddon). Here he seems to desperately want to emulate the success of Quentin Tarantino in recent years, with confident, clever dialogue between dangerous, unpredictable characters. Unfortunately, Rosenberg's lacks the crispness and urgency of Tarantino's scripts, and the all-star cast can't find a way to up the ante. Except for an inspired Treat Williams, they walk through this in technical mode. And the result is a film that looks good and feels like it could be both clever and engaging, but which ultimately is neither.

Copyright © 16.10.2012 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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