Customer Reviews

Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (Region 2)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Scott Rosenberg's script for "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" skates the edge big time in this 1995 film. There are times when what comes out of the mouth of his characters is on a par with Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarrantino, but there are also moments when the verbiage becomes so dense that the film loses momentum. But whether you think that Rosenberg comes out ahead in the end or falls short, I can guarantee you that you will never forget what it means to "Buckwheat" somebody and that "Boat drinks" will sound like a great idea until the day you die.

The situation in "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" is that Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) and his buddies know there time is coming to an end any moment. Jimmy runs a business where dying people get to videotape words of wisdom from beyond the grave to their loved ones. Throughout the film we get to see clips from such tapes, and if you do not know who is going to appear on the last one then you are not really thinking ahead on this one. This might be a good idea but it is a lousy business and Jimmy has been losing money and what he owes is now due to the Man With the Plan (Christopher Walken), a psychotic paraplegic who knows exactly how Jimmy can work out his debt.

A widower, the Man's son has been arrested for trying to molest a young girl on a school playground in broad daylight. The Man thinks that the son will get himself right again if only he can get back together with his old girlfriend, but she has a new boyfriend. Jimmy is order to pick up the boyfriend when he comes back to Denver and "brace" him. So Jimmy rounds up the old gang to do the deed and makes the mistake of picking Pieces (Christopher Lloyd), a projectionist at a porno theater who has lost a couple of digits to leprosy, and Critical Bill (Treat Williams), a psycho who has not beaten up a live person in years because he blows off steam by pummeling corpses, out front.

Suffice it to say that things go wrong, horribly wrong ((if you see parallels between this film and "Reservoir Dogs" I should point out that director Gary Fleder made a point of telling people that Rosenberg's script was written long before Tarrantino's film was made). This is why Jimmy and the boys are dead because the Man is going to have them killed. And not just killed. The famous hit man Mister Shhh (Steve Buscemi) is coming to town to not only kill the boys, but "Buckwheat" them (short version: lots of pain and suffering before death). Fortunately, we do not get to see too much of the actual Buckwheating, but the idea of it is enough to make you start cringing every time another one of the gang goes down for the long count.

Beyond the obvious complication that Jimmy feels bad about causing the imminent deaths of his friends, which he tries to do something about without success, he has a couple of romantic entanglements. Jimmy has just fallen for Dagney (Gabrielle Anwar), making sure there was as little time between their first and second date (because there is no kissing on the first date), and he knows that the Man knows about her. But Jimmy also has a soft spoke for Lucinda (Fairuza Balk), who might be a hooker but he does not like it when johns take advantage of her, especially now that she is pregnant.

We have no reason to believe that Jimmy can get out of Denver let along the end of this movie alive. The rules of the game are too clearly established here, and there is a retired gangster at the local diner (Jack Warden) who helps to fill in the gaps. The question is whether Jimmy can put together some sort of moral victory before the lights go out, and while there are certainly moments when this film is too damn cute for its own good, I appreciate it when a character listens to me screaming at him what he has to do to payback the Man before the end and actually does it.

It took me a while to get around to this one, but it is nice to see that Rosenberg has shown surer footing nearing the edge in the scripts he has written since then for "Con Air" and "High Fidelity." Fleder has gone on to direct "Kiss the Girls" and "Runaway Jury," both of which are improvements on this effort as well. "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" is not a first level example of the modern film noir, but it aspires to be and it has some moments. Plus, you have Christopher Walken showing how menacing he can be when nothing works below the neck, which is certainly good for something as well.

They must have liked the script and great characters as Jimmy The Saint, Franchise, E-Z Winn and Mr. Shush. Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi and others decided to forego their usual paydays to act in this now indie classic. THINGS TO DO IN DENVER is a great paced, extremely likeable film. The most fervent work is turned in by Treat Williams, as psychotic Critical Bill, and the major cool, Walken as the wheelchair bound, Man With The Plan (Jenny McCarthy as his nurse). Jack Warden old-pros his way by semi-narrating the tale of a group of misbegotten criminals and their impending doom. I'd buy at the Thick 'N' Rich anyday. Boat drinks all around!

I often wonder if director's purposely set out to cast as many eccentrics as possible. We've seen it when Abel Ferrara cast Willem Dafoe and Chris Walken in New Rose Hotel, combining seemingly two of the most bizarre actors in Hollywood. And don't forget At Close Range, which combined Crispin Glover and Walken. Also, Steve Buscemi and Walken were together in Pulp Fiction. Are you noticing a common element? That's right: Walken.

He's here in a bit, but pivotal, role as a mob boss who employs reformed former associate Jimmy "The Saint"(Garcia), nicknamed The Saint due to his former aspirations to be a priest, to do a simple "action." Well, Jimmy and his crew screw up BIG TIME and the crime boss, known on the streets as the "man with the plan", tells Jimmy to leave town or else.....


Jimmy has a moral conflict due to the fact that "the man with the plan" resfuses to offer Jimmy's crew the same mercies. Things gradually digress, with Jimmy's crew finding themselves the victims of a progression of assassinations at the hands of one Steve Buscemi, known here as Mr. Shhh.

A very good film with many name-brand actors. Andy Garcia does a phenomenal job here, a job that is the best I've seen from him - ever. Here's a list of actors from this film that you'll either know by name of by face.

Andy Garcia
Christopher Walken
Don Cheadle
Steve Buscemi
Jenny McCarthy
Christopher Lloyd - yep, Doc Brown himself
Gabrielle Anwar - best known as Chris O'Donnel's fling in Scent of A Woman
Jack Warden - Big Al from Problem Child
Treat Williams - Bill Pulman lookalike
Fairuza Balk - Vicky Valencourt from The Water Boy
William Forsythe - Flatop from Dick Tracy, also plays cops a lot, as he did in The Devil's Rejects.

Between Balk, Buscemi, Walken, Forsythe, and Lloyd, Gary Fleder has grouped a collection of some of the most bizarre character actors in Hollywood. The affect is fun, though, as you see many faces and names amid this tremendous screenplay and plot.

This is one of the more underrated films I've ever seen. The only problem with this film is that is came out in 1995, not a good year for a film to try to shine with films like Heat, Leaving Las Vegas, Casino, Seven,and The Usual Suspects gaining much attention in terms of the crime/city genre.

I am not going to delve into great details as many reviewers have already done so, but I will agree with most that this movie was well done and definitely worth adding to your dvd collection, if not at least seeing. I am hard pressed to recall how I originally heard about it, newspaper review possibly, but based on that alone I knew I had to catch this limited release screening. I do recall when this movie initially released it seemed as if it was already relegated to "cult" status because it opened with very little fanfare, in very limited locations, and only for a short viewing period. My wife and I saw it before we were married at a lesser known theater in Hollywood, not on the strip, where it was only playing for the weekend. As we walked out when it was over we were so blasted by what we had just seen we carefully scanned the street for suspicious looking cars that might contain tommy-gun weilding hitmen and then ran to our car!
All that said love this movie, get it, buy it, rent it, see it!

I'm more than a little ashamed to admit that it took me 9 years to get around to seeing this movie. And I consider myself a lover of this type of pic. I just had a hard time coming across it in the usual retail outlets. But, alas I find the movie and I have to say it's just great....Sure, the dialogue does try to force feed some one liners and catchphrases at you..."Boat Drinks" and "Buckwheats" being just a couple...If you can somehow avoid cringing everytime they are less than smoothly inserted into the conversations, all the better. Andy Garcia does a good job of giving this movie an emotional and moral core, as the man straddling the line between good and evil, his past and his future all at once. Treat Williams gives an astounding performance as a complete loon. All in all everyone does well here. One must question the wisdom of Garcia's character allowing the oldest and the most unstable of the crew to perform the most demanding part of their seemingly simple task. Garcia himself and Winn would have been much better in that instance. O well, quibble I must, but I suppose if more capable hands (no pun intended) had done the job, this would have been a rather short movie.. But it's a great movie nonethe less. Flashes of brilliance, even.

Wow, this is probably the best gangster flick nobody knows.Andy Garcia,and Christopher Walken are fantastic.This is better than King of NewYork and Untouchables!Please watch this band of misfits try to get right before mobster Walken Fixes them all.Boat drinks, anyone?

Wow!! One not to be missed. Highly underated in all areas, direction, production, script and acting. Now how could anyone not like a film with two of the best actresses of recent times giving 100%- I refer to Fairuza Balk and Gabrielle Anwar. Top them off with a wonderful effort from Andy Garcia and Steve Buscemi and this really is a collectable, in whatever format you can grab hold of. One of the top 20 films in my collection of over 3500.

Am I the only film buff who is tired of that knee-jerk phrase "Post-Tarantino" being slapped onto every film released since "Reservoir Dogs" that features a Heist Gone Awry? Tarantino himself "borrowed" shamelessly from a genre that dates back from 1954's "The Asphalt Jungle". "Things To Do In Denver..." merely carries on this time-honored Noir tradition, with much aplomb. Yes, it's formulaic, but when you've got crackling dialogue spouted by the likes of Chris Walken, Jack Warden, Andy Garcia, Treat Williams and Steve Buscemi, you can't go wrong. Despite the trappings of hip posturing and cartoon violence that run rampant in the script, Andy Garcia turns in a surprisingly moving and layered performance that gives the film some genuine heart (and class!). Treat Williams and Christopher Walken are barely able to contain thier glee as they chew up the scenery in entertaining Grand Guginol fashion. Look fast for a pre-"Boogie Nights" Don Cheadle as a trash talking gangsta. Quite enjoyable if you're in the mood for an old-fashioned shoot-em-up with post-modern attitude.

A friend of mine told me about "Things to do in Denver..." a few years ago. For my birthday this year I recieved the DVD. While I love all of Quentin Tarantino's films, I don't believe any of his work can live up to a film such as this (with the exception of maybe "Pulp Fiction"). Andy Garcia plays Jimmy the Saint, an ex-mafioso that gets pulled back into the business by The Man With The Plan (Christopher Walken, that's the only name we get). To unfamiliar ears, the story might sound familar and worn out. It is not, in fact screenwriter Scott Rosenberg puts an entirely different spin on the plot, keeping this audience in suspense until the very last closing credit.

This movie works on several different levels. First, the casting was phenonminal. Andy Garcia, Treat Williams, Christopher Lloyd, Bill Nunn, Gabrielle Anwar, William Forsythe and Christopher Walken comprise the ensemble cast. Second, Scott Rosenberg's irresistable knack for clever dialogue and twisted plots will always be a crowd pleaser.

With "Things to do in Denver...", you simply cannot go wrong. Purchase the DVD and let us know what you think. If there were only a few more extras on the disc, I think I might add it as one of my faves.

For those of you who haven't seen this thing, go out and get it. One of the most underrated crime flicks of the last twenty years, it has Andy Garcia as Jimmy The Saint, a former crook who abandons his vocation in favour of the more leisurely business of filming the departing wit and wisdoms of the terminally ill. Life is calm and profitable until Christopher Walken, a wheelchair- bound mob boss calls in an old favour. His son, a... paedophile, has assaulted a young girl and Walken, convinced that the root of the problem is the departure of his son's girlfriend to the arms of another insists the new boyfriend be given a scare. Garcia is reluctantly forced to reassemble the old gang, a now fifty-ish crew of misfits, bums and losers who drift through American lowlife in various guises, the most monstrously entertaining of whom is Treat William's 'Critical Bill' a corpse-punching psychopath whose antics on the night turn the 'scare' into a homicide and whose reaction to Garcia's incredulous wrath is "Well, it was sort of your fault, Jimmy. You trusted me." Walken's response to the unmitigated disaster is to declare 'Buckwheats' on all of them, an instruction that they are each to die in the most painful way possible. ...BR>If this sounds too off-the-wall, let me tell you that it works superbly, partly because of first rate acting by Garcia, Williams and Christopher LLoyd as well as a great script, but mainly due to the criminal argot and patois which at times achieves almost poetic levels and makes anything by Tarantino seem amateurish and contrived. What more is there to say?