This wasn't a terrible movie but I'm surprised at the number of posts on here that call it "underrated", etc. As of this post it is rated a 6.7 which seems a bit high for me. There were just a few too many unrealisms for me to take this very seriously.
The whole "I'm not leaving" thing from everyone involved in the botched assignment when the bounty was put on their heads seemed ridiculous.
That fact that Jimmy would even consider recruiting someone as insane as Critical Bill for such an important mission is absurd. I mean they walk in on him as he is using a dead corpse in a funeral home as a punching bag...please.
The scene where Mr. Shhh was looking for Easy Wind and the ensuing shoot-out was beyond belief.
Why didn't Pieces just kill Jimmy on the spot? I know he said something to the effect that since they were friends he would let him leave town....but still Jimmy was responsible for recruiting the team that ultimately ended up killing Pieces' daughter.
Would Pieces' daughter's boyfriend really run his mouth that much after having had a knife held to his throat?
Just way too many instances such as these for me to call this a great film. Like I said, it isn't terrible but sort of average 5/10.
I can't help it. If a movie isn't clear on whether it is supposed to be a complete fantasy or is to be taken seriously...the realism factor is a sticking point as to my liking it or not. This movie gives no indication that it is to be taken lightly. So the absurd scenarios give it less credence. A solid, well written movie is so much better than one full of holes. It ruins the film if I notice glaring unrealisms in a movie that is a serious crime film such as this. I won't insult or critisize anyone who thinks it is a great film, I'm just pointing out the flaws that took away from its impact as I watched it.
If you found those things to be so unrealistic as to spoil the movie then so be it. I will not try to persuade you otherwise. But I will clear up a couple of things that you seem to be confused about. Pieces (Christopher Lloyd) and Jimmy were great friends. So when you refer to Pieces killing Jimmy I take it you mean The Man With The Plan (Christopher Walken)killing Jimmy.
And it is important to note that the woman who was killed in the "action" was not The Man's daughter. If that had been the case then Jimmy and the whole crew would have faced quick and certain death. No, she was the one-time girlfriend of The Man's mentally challenged son, who was disconsolate after their break-up. The Man wanted Jimmy to scare off the new boyfriend so the girl would get back together with The Man's son.
Would the boyfriend be so mouthy in real life? Maybe, maybe not. But it is certainly conceivable that he sensed the danger had passed and indulged himself in a moment of bravado.
I enjoyed this move for what it was--fresh, fun, clever and entertaining--without giving too much concern to how realistic it was. I give it a 7/10.
"I don't want any Commies in my car. No Christians, either."
I'm gonna have to agree with you. The whole scene with the boyfriend was really far-fetched. So you realize the guys that stopped are not really cops andsomehow that makes you feel safe enough to ridicule them? Really? And even if that was the case, one of them beats you up and almost slits your throat when you insulted him, and you still push your luck and you still feel the need to insult him a third time? Come on!!
I had been wanting to watch this movie for a long time, and it turned out to be a big dissapointment...
I gotta say that the the movie is what the old-timers would call a yarn. It's a story (like billions of others) that is presented as a "reality" while also stretching the credibility of realism. It is a myth, a fable, of the "last days of Jimmy the Saint", as told by an old codger in a malt shop who knew him his whole life. It is not presented as a hyper-realistic film and it seems a shame that that was some people's interpretation. The guy boxing a corpse should have given it away, if you were unclear. The made-up slang that nobody has ever heard could also be considered an indicator. The fact that the Man With A Plan called in a guy that has been out of the business for years to do this scare job instead of a real goon (and let's face it, even if he had been in the "business" still, would he really go to Andy Garcia who is known as "Jimmy the Saint" to do such dirty work?) perpetuates the mythology of the Fates staking their claim. The Saint letting the only 2 people on his crew that everyone in the world would say "anybody but them" do the most important aspect of the job without at least William Forsythe to take one of their places, is ludicrous but indicates how far away from the business the Saint has gone. Thinking about this series of events as a realistic depiction of what would happen with real-life goons, I'm sure would make the whole fable fall into pieces at a person's dejected and disappointed feet. With all movies, books, stories in whatever form, the enjoyment comes from allowing a world to be depicted for you and believing in that world for the duration of the yarn. I get angry when a story or character in a story betrays the world and/or identity that they have asked me to enter. "Denver" however, did no such thing. I'm sure if you watch it again you will see that you must have entered the film with some preconceived notions as to the type of reality that it was depicting. It is not presented like "The Untouchables" or "Serpico". It is more akin to "Pulp Fiction" "True Romance" "Boondock Saints" "Lucky Number Slevin" etc. etc. etc. It is a shame that some of you who have ruined the movie for yourselves by inexplicably believing that this was a solid, no holds barred, drama (even after you saw all of the ghosts on the yacht toasting their "boat drinks", allowing us audience members who did understand the world of Denver that had been depicted, and cared about these characters, a final warmth in our hearts as they all, ultimately, ended up exactly where they had hoped to...), will never be able to approach the movie fresh, and enjoy the tale of the great Jimmy The Saint and his crew, and their last days in Denver...
the only thing i could do was be me and keep on keeping on, like a bird that flew...
I definitely had to really suspend my disbelief at times. Like when the BF kept egging on the psycho who has a weapon on him. Come on, you have to be a complete moron to do that. And there is no way in HELL Critical Bill would have been in that position. I don't even know one area where they needed him. Guy had liability written all over him.
"Cool will get ya dead." -Former NBA Power Forward, Karl Malone