Get Shorty

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

One of the best movies of the year and by far the most entertaining.

Film.com John Hartl

Practically perfect in its unpretentious way, MGM's Get Shorty is the kind of smart, witty, polished entertainment that restores one's faith in the studio system.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

In Get Shorty, director Barry Sonnenfeld's spirited adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel, Travolta's rebirth accelerates directly into adulthood.

Time Richard Schickel

A smart, shrewdly crafted movie.

Newsweek David Ansen

Barry Sonnenfeld's bouncy, immensely likable adaptation.

Washington Post Hal Hinson

Barry Sonnenfeld's irresistibly charming lampoon of Hollywood.

Film.com Sean Means

Director Barry Sonnenfeld captures Hollywood in sunny tones, with fluid camera moves providing maximum comic effect.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

One of the pleasures of Get Shorty is watching the way the plot moves effortlessly from crime to the movies - not a long distance, since both industries are based on fear, greed, creativity and intimidation.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Hackman is unexpectedly hilarious. With protruding top teeth and a professorial beard, he's a motormouth, badgering and abusing one minute, wheedling and fawning the next.

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

This movie is charming the way so few movies are anymore.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

With Get Shorty, Sonnenfeld has shown that broad appeal doesn't necessarily equate with stupidity. That's a lesson Hollywood should learn.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The author's sardonic voice has been lost in most films based on his fiction, but this one nicely captures that unruffled Leonard authority. And since Get Shorty is about Hollywood, it invites the sneaky self-mockery that gives this film its comic punch. [20 October 1995, p. C1]

Variety Staff (Not credited)

Good, sly fun.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

An entertaining comedy-thriller directed with bounce (if not much nuance) by Barry Sonnenfeld.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

The jokes are quick, with clever jibes alternating with double-crosses and the occasional murder, and the streamlined plot unrolls like a colorful ball of twine.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

The film is wickedly hilarious but more in a droll and knowing kind of sense than a har-de-har-har manner.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Get Shorty is exquisitely cast, with droll, well-nuanced performances.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

One of the sharper, funnier, better-cast, better-written movies around right now. But there's something about it that, well, comes up short. [20 October 1995, Friday, p.C]

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The picture has enough assets to please moviegoers willing to put up with its many four-letter words and the bursts of violence that spring from nowhere at unexpected moments. [27 October 1995, Arts Film, p.12]

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

Though it sounds like a blueprint for either disaster or dynamite, the movie is a bit too controlled to be either.

TV Guide Harlan Jacobson

Get Shorty's assortment of lowlifes and high rollers is a familiar one, but it's still deeply satisfying.

Mr. Showbiz F. X. Feeney

A smirky black comedy that, like its John Lurie score, is jazzy, dry, and light on its feet.