chapmanba-32756
True art, a great film, in league with the best. I disagree with the pretentious criticisms herein written about GUNSHY. The story comes through time and technique to move the theater-goer as only great stories do, starting with Wm Shakespeare's works, down through the dramas of the great British and Russian writers, from Ernest Hemingway and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, through all the other great journalists of the 20th century, and to the few damned fine movies that Spain, France England, Chile, Mexico and the United States have brought to us.With films such as Gunshy, reviewers should rise above what they deem imperfect, to simply evaluate the human impact of a story? Taking a line from Gunshy, which borrowed it from Melville, "Look not too long upon the fire." . . . Read the reviews of real people below the Youtube screen of this film. We are the public, we are the final word in any review.
whemmer
This is an enjoyable movie. A supposedly down-and-out writer (Jake, played by William Peterson) who is actually working undercover in order to get some material for a novel gets more than he bargains for. The cops he works for turn out to be as bad as the gangsters he's supposedly trying to get arrested. He gradually befriends one of the gangsters (Frankie, played by Michael Wincott) and much of the plot turns on issues of betrayal, love and friendship. Beautifully shot, well acted...Wincott is particularly fine...and a plot that keeps you wondering what's going to happen. Some pretty violent scenes, so those who don't like violence, keep away.Even though the movie is shot in color, the lighting reminds you of the great noir genre films of the 50's. Diane Lane plays Melissa, the love interest for both men. The ending is a surprise.
smurky
I found this direct-to-video disaster on the "bargain bin" table at my local video shop, used former rental for $3.00...and it wasn't worth it. I was attracted to the cover because I am a huge William Petersen fan, not only because of " CSI ", but because I saw him in person on stage in NYC a few years and he was fantastic ! But his talent is wasted here....the acting, not only his, but everyone's, is so bad, so corny, so melodramatic, so over-the-top, that it looked and sounded like the " Saturday Night Live " cast doing a spoof of 50's gangster movies ! And I couldn't believe Diane Lane's character....she was a NURSE....it is extremely unbelievabe and unrealistic that a NURSE, trained to heal the sick and care for people, would be in love with and live with a gangster who beats people and cuts off their toes with hedgeclippers...I certainly would not want her nursing me...I thought of selling this on Ebay, but I 'd feel guilty ...I 'll just throw it out.
Tony Hooten (odaat)
Nothing not to love about this movie. Everything, acting, soundtrack and plot of Gunshy is a treasure, especially to those of us who grew up on loving film noir. The tough guy Frankie (Michael Wincott) is wonderful! He is tough as nails with a heart of gold. He feels the need to rescue people in return for someone who had helped him in his past, and feels the need to grow intellectually for the woman he loves, another he has rescued. He feels the need for a tutor to educate him. Enter Jake (William Petersen) a has-been writer who lives in a whiskey bottle in the underbelly of Atlantic City. Jake has lost his job and catches his lover with another man. He tells her he knows a place where a loser like him will fit right in.. So he checks in to a seedy hotel in Atlantic City. He becomes so down and out he becomes self-destructive, picking a fight in a bar and getting his butt kicked. Frankie sees something in him worth using and saving. This is movie-lovers TREASURE!
AD
