Go

Covid sucks and it's been a pretty boring year. The only possible positive I can think of is having the time to find classic movies like this. 'Go' came out in 1999, when I was in High School, but I'm still surprised I haven't watched it before. I remember hearing it was a "Tarantino wanna be" from Doug Liman, but it's so much more. First, the story/plot is simple to follow but very entertaining. Not only does it have a great story but it's executed to perfection by the well chosen cast. Just to name a few members: Katie Holmes, William Fichtner, Taye Diggs, Timothy Olyphant, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polly, and it even has the debut of Melissa McCarthy. It's very rare to find a movie with this kind of cast and I was blown away by it. My favorite thing about the movie: It's length. It's a perfect amount of time to entertain you, but not take up a huge chunk of your day. It's direct and to the point, with no wasted screen time. I wish we had more movies like it.

If you haven't had the chance or maybe if you are just bored like I was, give this movie a chance and you won't be disappointed.

After PULP FICTION a lot of films tried to emulate its format. But none came close to matching its success. GO has clear elements of PULP FICTION in it, but it does its own thing at the same time. This is the right way to make a movie that may be inspired by another great film while still branching out on its own.

The story is great fun from the first frame to the last. The characters are fun and believable and there is a lot of great dialog here. Every time I watch it I continue to be impressed, even still after all these years. It never lets me down and it never once lets up even for a second. Highly recommend.

I liked this movie well enough to watch it twice. I waited 'til it came out on video, but made sure to see it, because it stars Sarah Polley, who I've been a fan of since her "Road to Avonlea" days. This is not a serious movie. It's fun, upbeat, quick, and for those with short attention spans. I liked it. I didn't think it was as incredible as some say, but enjoyable enough to watch it twice. So many people have compared it to Pulp Fiction. Frankly, the only similarity I see between the two, is the "jumping around timelines". Which I like. Good movie to watch, just don't bother trying to analyze it - you won't come up with much.

A little gem of a movie, an excellent follow-up (but not sequel) to the fantastic "Swingers".

Sarah Polley is worth the price of admission alone, for her excellent performance. She is supported by an equally excellent cast including Taye Diggs, Scott Wolf, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, and Timothy Olyphant - among others.

Many viewed this movie as being an MTV version of Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and, while this may to an extent me true, it is obviously much more than that; and an excellent stand-alone movie of it's own.

Split into 3 separate storylines which clash and collide along the way, finally merging as the movie comes to a close, this movie constantly keeps the viewer on edge; and provides an excellent example of the drug/club etc. scene of the 90's and 00's.

Favourite scene has to be: where the teens in the car (in the first storyline) are convinced they're 'going up', as they believe they're on Es - but are really on aspirin and allergy medicine! Fantastic!!!!

Funny, edgy, fast-paced with a sharp script, strong cast, and excellent soundtrack.

"Go" reads like a very very good sophomore offering by a very very good up-and-coming director. You can almost see a bright future for everyone involved in the film, from the director (Doug Liman) to the screenwriter (John August) to all of the young actors. The script is clearly the winner, with witty dialogue and a convoluted plotline (or plotlines, depending on how you view it) centered around a dozen or so GenX-er Los Angelenos on Christmas Eve. The film slickly moves you from one plotline to the next, as you follow one minor disaster leading to other minor disasters.

The film being a "sophomore offering," of course, has some drawbacks. Yes, it is tangentially derivative of "Pulp Fiction." And yes, it does scrounge a bit from this teen flick and that. In some cases, certain plotlines wrap up too neatly, and in other cases the plotlines don't converge nearly as neatly enough. But what the film may lack in originality it certainly makes up for with style and quirks.

The real discovery in all this is the cast. Sarah Polly stands out (listen to her mild Canadian accent slip through once in a while) as the world-weary checkout gal who's first and only foray into drug-dealing unleashes a legion of trouble for her. Desmond Askew (wonderfully punny name) is this Pulp Fiction's Tim Roth, glib and cocky as his well-ordered world whirls and crumbles around him in a neatly choreographed disaster. As the sinister drug supplier, Timothy Olyphant is particularly menacing, exuding equal amounts of danger and innocence, sexiness and insecurity. The characters in "Go" never become cardboard parodies of themselves, and they never dissolve into charicatures of themselves for the sake of plot or atmosphere.

So watch the film, soak in the plot, atmosphere, and the characters. At the risk of sounding glib myself, by all means "Go."