Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead: The Most Criminally Underrated Movie on Earth

Can I make a confession, here … ?

Or, at least, be frank … ?

I mentioned, this morning, that I’d managed to sleep through my alarm.

There’s a reason for that.

Myself and Movie Night Adrian were watching a film, last night, and I was up a touch later than I maybe should have been, bookmarking some of the more immediately relevant pages.

Ones I wanted to add to this post, to help clarify — hopefully — what I’m going to say.

The film we saw … ?

Was the Gary Fleder directed, Scott Rosenberg penned, Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead.

Something that both I and Adrian agreed made Pulp Fiction look hopelessly overrated … !

No, seriously … !!

It’s like comparing a Maserati to a Ford Edsel … !

Ahem …

I think I’d better calm down and tell you about this, hadn’t I … ?

Before I fill this post up with needless dots … … … …

«•»

Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead sees Andy Garcia as Jimmy the Saint, a Mafiosi who’s attempting to go straight: by running Afterlife Advise, a company that films messages from people with not long left to live, that those near death can leave to the loved ones.

But who get’s called in to do one last job for the local Mafia bigwig — named only as The Man With the Plan and planned with incredible menace by Christopher Walken.

The job … ?

I’ll not give to much away, here, but the job goes badly — badly — wrong, and sees The Man With The Plan putting out orders for Jimmy and his crew to be killed in an especially gruesome way.

Basically … ?

Shot up the proverbial …

Nasty …

»•«

Now, here’s where I’m going to be frank, I think.

One year earlier saw the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Which is a great little crime film.

Nicely shot, well directed, jauntily written and nicely acted.

But, in my personal opinion … ?

Doesn’t hold a candle to Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead. Intellectually, artistically or otherwise.

I personally found Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead to have a far greater emotional maturity to it: that, and characters who seemed fuller and better realised and acted than in Pulp Fiction: what’s more, the humour in Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead seemed a lot less forced.

And — adding to that — it also seemed to have a cast operating on a lot more barrels than Pulp Fictions.

Just to give you an example … ?

There’s a scene between Andy Garcia and Christopher Lloyd’s character, Pieces — who knows he’s to die at the hands of the assassin sent by Walken and is seriously unafraid of his oncoming death* — that’s one of the most beautiful I think I’ve seen in a long time: and also one I think should speak for itself …

You take my point, I hope … ?

Showing you the trailer would be almost pointless, in retrospect, wouldn’t it … ? As pointless as telling you that the cast, crew, writer and director of this film didn’t get any gongs for this.

But, at any rate, that’s where I’m going to leave this post.

With the trailer for Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead.

And one suggestion.

No, not a suggestion, a demand.

That you see Things To Do In Denver, When You’re Dead.

Right now.

Not to do so … ?

Would be criminal.

Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead.
★★★★