---
title: "Get Shorty (1995) review"
description: "A crime comedy this tight would be a miracle today. In 1995 it was just Tuesday."
url: https://www.joekarlsson.com/reviews/get-shorty/
---

![A still from Get Shorty (1995)](https://www.joekarlsson.com/images/reviews/get-shorty/backdrop.webp)

# Get Shorty (1995)

Jan 17, 2026 | Rated 4 out of 5 | Dir. Barry Sonnenfeld

A crime comedy this tight would be a miracle today. In 1995 it was just Tuesday.

Get Shorty is a tight script - funny, packed with action, effortlessly cool. I was surprised how much I liked it, though I shouldn’t have been. This is what 90s crime capers did well: stacked casts, snappy dialogue, plots that move, and a sense that everyone involved was having a good time.

I mourn the loss of these movies. This would feel like an event today - a crime comedy this well-constructed would be treated as a miracle. In 1995 it was basically a throwaway. Just another Elmore Leonard adaptation with Travolta, Hackman, and DeVito. No big deal.

They don’t make them like this anymore. They should.

Also on [Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/joekarlsson/film/get-shorty/)

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I write about my homelab, AI tools, databases, and the weird stuff I build on the side.

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