Gunshy (1998)

Director:

Jeff Celentano

Writer:

Larry Gross (written by)

Release Date:

17 August 2000 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Cold-blooded killers.

Plot:

When the New York journalist Jake Bridges catches his girlfriend with another guy, he goes to Atlantic City to drink himself to oblivion...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Female Nudity | Atlantic City New Jersey | Mafia | Organized Crime

Cast

William Petersen	...	Jake Bridges
Michael Wincott	...	Frankie McGregor
Diane Lane	...	Melissa
R. Lee Ermey	...	Jerry
Kevin Gage	...	Ward
Michael Byrne	...	Lange
Eric Schaeffer	...	Gwynne
Meat Loaf	...	Lew Collins
Musetta Vander	...	Grace
John Fleck	...	Willis
Badja Djola	...	Abel
Benjamin Lum	...	Kwai
Natalie Canerday	...	Jan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ray Bickel	...	Security Guard Harry
Thomas C. Bright	...	Plimpton
Jesse Dabson	...	Bernard
Tera Hendrickson	...	Jenny
Jim Hodge	...	Bartender ('Erin Bar') (as Jim B. Hodge)
Stephen Ingle	...	Delivery boy
Michael L. Kavanagh	...	Bartender
Robert Madrid	...	Tommy Hats
Cee Cee Michaela	...	Nurse (as Cee-Cee Harshaw)
John Rayner	...	Maitre D'
James Staszkiel	...	Wilmer
Jennie Vaughn	...	Betty
Jodi Verdu	...	Tina
Al Vicente	...	Commando Leader
Christopher Wiehl	...	Tim
Ken Wright	...	Assistant DA
Richard Zavaglia	...	Officer H. Pagliaro

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Germany:16 | USA:R | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Periscope Pictures

Quotes:

Jake Bridges: [singing] What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor? What do you do with a drunken sailor? You put him in a long boat and wait until morning.

Movie Connections:

Features Casablanca (1942)

Very cool tale

William Petersen plays Jake, a down-on-his luck writer who has lost his muse and crawled into a bottle. One night, he drunkenly takes on an obnoxious bar tough, Lew (played by Meat Loaf), who takes him outside and begins to hand him a serious beating. The beating is interrupted by a low-level Irish mob enforcer, Frankie (Wincott), who had an appointment with Lew for a collection. Frankie puts a hurting on Lew and takes Jake home where Frankie's girlfriend, Melissa (Diane Lane), who happens to be a nurse, provides medical attention for Jake.

Though Jake is obnoxiously resistant at first, Frankie wants to be his friend and help him out of the hole he's dug himself into. In exchange, Frankie wants Jake to help him become more educated and erudite.

While this could turn into a sappy story on the level of Danny DeVito in Renaissance Man, instead it's a cool, dark tale of conflicting loyalties and desires with a little redemption thrown in to boot. Well acted and with solid dialogue, the film has a few cliche moments, but they are ultimately forgivable in the end.