I recently watched Go! for the first time in almost a decade having seen it a few times in the initial years after its release. Some aspects of it were as solid and entertaining as I remembered, some others seemed weaker.
This is a film very much of the Tarantino era. It's clearly inspired by his early works (with a hint of Coen-esque black comedy) so if you're not a QT fan, then it's probably one to avoid (although it is certainly less violent than his work, so if you like his style but not the occasional brutality then this may be for you).
The film is made up of three interlocking stories focusing on employees of a food market. It was originally written as a single short story, but when friends of the writer showed interest in what happened with the other characters, he extended it to its current form. Taking inspiration from QTs films, the director decides to mess with the chronology and show each story from beginning to almost end, one after another. Unlike in Pulp Fiction where this is entirely necessary, here it comes off as more of a gimmick. It works on the couple of occasions where the third story intersects the first . However it leaves the second story set in Vegas to fend for itself. This is undoubtedly the weakest of the three arcs, in terms of characters, acting and believability and therefore makes the film drag a little in the middle.
However, the first and in particular the third story, together with the final ten minutes which ties the ends do, more than make up for it and leave the film with a definite thumbs up. Sarah Polley carries her segment well and it's a surprise that we haven't heard more from her over the last decade. Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr are particularly entertaining and have the best scene as they are propositioned by a cop and his wife over an early Christmas dinner. Towards the end, one of the characters seem to completely betray the development from earlier in the film, which feels a little forced. However this can be excused by the questionable morality shown by all of the characters which is something of a theme.
The score is excellent and the cinematography is inventive and works 75% of the time. Only in Vegas does it seem cool for cool's sake.
This is a film very much of the Tarantino era. It's clearly inspired by his early works (with a hint of Coen-esque black comedy) so if you're not a QT fan, then it's probably one to avoid (although it is certainly less violent than his work, so if you like his style but not the occasional brutality then this may be for you).
The film is made up of three interlocking stories focusing on employees of a food market. It was originally written as a single short story, but when friends of the writer showed interest in what happened with the other characters, he extended it to its current form. Taking inspiration from QTs films, the director decides to mess with the chronology and show each story from beginning to almost end, one after another. Unlike in Pulp Fiction where this is entirely necessary, here it comes off as more of a gimmick. It works on the couple of occasions where the third story intersects the first . However it leaves the second story set in Vegas to fend for itself. This is undoubtedly the weakest of the three arcs, in terms of characters, acting and believability and therefore makes the film drag a little in the middle.
However, the first and in particular the third story, together with the final ten minutes which ties the ends do, more than make up for it and leave the film with a definite thumbs up. Sarah Polley carries her segment well and it's a surprise that we haven't heard more from her over the last decade. Scott Wolf and Jay Mohr are particularly entertaining and have the best scene as they are propositioned by a cop and his wife over an early Christmas dinner. Towards the end, one of the characters seem to completely betray the development from earlier in the film, which feels a little forced. However this can be excused by the questionable morality shown by all of the characters which is something of a theme.
The score is excellent and the cinematography is inventive and works 75% of the time. Only in Vegas does it seem cool for cool's sake.