"Go" to the movies

"Go"
Overall Rating: ***

This week's review was a toss-up when it came to my deciding what to review. As a die-hard Neil Simon fan, I wanted to see the remake of "The Out-of-Towners," but highly unappealing previews and competition on its debut weekend worked against it. On the other hand, while I was only slightly curious about "Go;" I had heard good things about it, and it came out this week making it timelier review material. Ultimately, the decision came down to the the fact that a free pass I have will be good for "The Out-of-Towners" on Monday. This convoluted decision-making method actually paid off.

"Go" is a comedy revolving around the underground economy. Specifically, Simon (Desmond Askew)--a grocery clerk who is also a small time dope dealer--asks his cash-strapped friend Ronna (Sarah Polley) to take over his shift at the store so he can go to Las Vegas with some friends. Ronna, however, desperately needs $380 to pay her rent, so she also takes over the dope dealing. The results of both the dope deal and the Vegas trip are chaotic to put it mildly.

"Go" is good, but not great. As a general rule, characters get what they deserve: there's an unanswered car theft (somebody gives his keys to a man who clearly isn't a valet), but as a general rule, if characters do something wrong, something bad happens to them. The movie is very funny in a couple of places (such as one where a group of partygoers are getting high on chewable aspirin because they THINK they're taking the illegal drug Ecstasy), and mildly amusing in a few more. Further, despite being slightly confusing in a couple of places, most of what happens happens for a reason--and the three subplots are brought together nicely.

The strong point is the cast. I'd have a hard time picking out which of the stars was the best, Desmond Askew is excellently cast as Simon, the buffoonish drug dealer who goes slightly nuts when he gets to Vegas. Sarah Polley's character is cool and calculating in a devious, but matter-of-fact way; her whole look and attitude are perfect for the role. The supporting cast is also wonderful, though three deserve particular attention: Timothy Olyphant as Todd Gaines, who is suitably sleazy for his part as the drug dealer; William Fichtner, who is a vice cop with ulterior motives; and Katie Holmes, who plays the stand-offish Claire in a very sympathetic manner, and is probably the best of the cast.

The downside of "Go" is that the movie is about the downside of life. Crooked vice cops, dope peddlers, and pimps do not make the most appealing characters. The film is funny and interesting, but not what I generally look for in a movie. The movie is also desperately trendy, and some jokes will almost certainly elude non-Generation-Xers: one joke depends on you knowing Alanis Morissette lyrics, for instance; beyond limiting the audience almost exclusively to the 18-to-30 crowd, in about ten years, "Go" will be so horribly dated that no-one will want to even look at it.

"Go" is also, definitely, positively, not for families. No clear moral message, pervasive coarse language, frequent drug references and on-screen drug use, plentiful strong sexual content including full frontal nudity, and occasional though significant violence not only make "Go" a movie to leave the kids home for, but probably put it on the Pat Buchannan burn list.

"Go" was intriguing more than appealing based on the previews and commercials. In the end, it was better than I expected, though with far superior films such as "The Matrix," "True Crime," and "October Sky" still playing, my advice would be don't "Go" unless you already wanted to see it and/or have seen everything else.

Title: "Go"
Release date: April 12, 1999
MPAA rating: R
Overall rating: ***
Aprox. run time: 102 min.
Director: Doug Liman
Writer: John August
Stars: Desmond Askew, Sarah Polley, Taye Diggs (plays Marcus)

Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/reviewsbyjohn/Go.htm

Added to blog site: 7/28/09