30 Years Anniversary Review Of Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead

One thing i really appreciate about looking back into movie history, is that you suddenly remember films that you loved for several reasons but have not seen in quite a while. For example just about 3 weeks ago i was going through films that was released 38 years ago in 1987 and i came across the title known as The Untouchables by legendary director Brian De Palma. I used to watch this film so many times back in the early 90´s on VHS and was one of my favourite films with legendary actor Kevin Costner. This is a very good criminal drama thriller with a brilliant cast such as Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Patricia Clarksson. Brad Sullivan and many others. The story is set in Chicago in the 1930´s where it is illegal to buy alcohol or sell alcohol where Bureau of Prohibiton agent Elliot Ness ( Kevin Costner ) who put together a team known as The Untouchables to take down the notorious gangster Al Capone ( Robert De Niro ) and his underground alcohol business. The whole cast does a brilliant job in this film and the film really manage to capture the time period during the 1930´s in a realistic way through costume design and set design. It was this film that legendary actor Sean Conner won an Academy award for and i can see why, he is absolutely fantastic as the character Officer Jimmy Malone. One of the reasons why i remember this film is that this was actually the very first role i saw actor Andy Garcia do. He was young at this time but still proved himself to be a great actor. If you have not seen The Untouchables you really should see it. Speaking of Andy Garcia i noticed that this year it is 30 years ago since his 1995 film Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead was released in theatres. Since i have nostalgic memories over this film i decided to watch it again and make a 30 years anniversary review as well. Is this film just as nostalgic as i remember it to be or have this film aged much more than i expected and lost some magic along the way?

Ex-ganster Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia ( Andy Garcia ) is trying to live a normal life, leaving his criminal past behind by running his company Afterlife Advice in Denver, where dying people videotape messages for their loved ones.  His business isn´t doing well and his former boss, a crime lord known as "The Man With The Plan" ( Christopher Walken ), has bought up his debt in order to command a favor involving the crime lord´s son, Bernard ( Michael Nicolosi ), who has been arrested for child molestation. The Man With The Plan, who was left a quadriplegic after an attempt on his life, wants Jimmy to pursuade Bernard´s ex-girlfriend Meg to come back to him; The Man With The Plan believe this will cure Bernard of his pedophilia. Jimmy have no other option but to recruit a group of criminal friends from the past, not knowing that there is an assassin out there ready to wipe out each of Jimmy´s friends.

Ever since i saw Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead in theatre here in Sweden i have always had a special place in my heart for this film. This is one of those magical 90´s movies that had so much to offer, especially if you loved really good casting, excellent performances and a very smooth story that followed with the plot. The thing is that this film may not look very unique when you read about it, it doesn´t sound very original. What makes this film so unique is the chemistry of this cast, and let me tell you this is a dream cast you don´t see very often. Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Walken, Treat Williams, William Forsythe, Bill Nunn, Jack Warden, Steve Buscemi, i could go on and on telling you the whole list. And how they were able to make so many great characters in one single film is incredible to be honest. And that is one of the biggest reason this film is so good, each character have magical screen time while especially some of them shine brighter. For example i have never been a huge fan of Andy Garcia but his character known as Jimmy "The Saint" is without a doubt one of the best characters i have ever seen Andy Garcia do. He is a perfect match for this character and so charming, who doesn´t want to hang out with Jimmy "The Saint"? The absolute best acting performance comes without a doubt from actor Treat Williams as the absolutely insane character "Critical" Bill. I could go on talking about the characters but let´s talk about the plot itself. There is a dark sense of humour mixed into the plot and you also get a sense that this film have a similar style of Quentin Tarantino when it comes to telling this story of a gang of criminals. You could say this film have a influences from the 1992 classic Tarantino full feature directorial debut film Reservoir Dogs, except this is not a heist film in that sense. This gang that Jimmy "The Saint" put together is a perfect match just like Tarantino did in Reservoir Dogs so i promise you will have a good time while they work together. The film looks great and the story is told very smoothly like an old school gangster film with some more modern touches. One difference compared to Reservoir Dogs is that this film is not that violent, only in a few scenes. Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead is one of my personal favourite 90´s films for a very good reason, this film have so many details that work so well making this a unique film experience. Director Gary Fleder proved with his directorial debut film that you can make a really good looking mob story with the right characters and the right sense of humour. This may have been a box office bomb in 1995 but i will always love this film, i strongly recommend Things To Do In Denver When You´re Dead on the Imprint blu ray release if you can get it or if you get the DVD. This is a true classic that belongs in your movie collection.

Rating: DDDD