Gun Shy (2000)

Director:

Eric Blakeney

Writer (WGA):

Eric Blakeney (written by)

Release Date:

4 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

The Agency's best has a bad case of nerves.

Plot:

An undercover DEA agent brings down the Mafia.

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Toilet | Organized Crime | Drug Dealing | Gun

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Charles 'Charlie' Mayeaux
Oliver Platt	...	Fulvio Nesstra
José Zúñiga	...	Fidel Vaillar
Michael DeLorenzo	...	Estuvio Clavo
Andrew Lauer	...	Jason Cane (as Andy Lauer)
Richard Schiff	...	Elliott
Paul Ben-Victor	...	Howard
Gregg Daniel	...	Jonathan
Ben Weber	...	Mark
Sandra Bullock	...	Judy Tipp
Mary McCormack	...	Gloria Minetti Nesstra
Michael Mantell	...	Dr. Jeff Bleckner
Mitch Pileggi	...	Dexter Helvenshaw
Louis Giambalvo	...	Lonny Ward
Rick Peters	...	Bennett

Also Known As:

Gunshy (Australia) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some brief nudity.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Company:

Fortis Films

Trivia:

The bus that Charlie (Liam Neeson) gets Judy (Sandra Bullock) to avoid hitting with her car has a registry number of 2525 on it. This was the same bus number that Sandra Bullock drove in the film, Speed (1994/I).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Cameraman's shadow on the floor in front of Charlie's bathroom stall just as the camera begins to rise over the top of the door.

Quotes:

Jason's Girlfriend: I wonder what kind of business they're talking about.
Gloria Minetti Nesstra: They're laundering money.
Jason's Girlfriend: What do you mean?
Gloria Minetti Nesstra: The cute Colombian and his boyfriend with the black eye. They represent a big drug cartel. They're looking to invest billions in Wall Street, and your boyfriend is setting it up for them.
Jason's Girlfriend: Wow, how exciting!
Gloria Minetti Nesstra: Yeah, well, Fulvio will foul the whole thing up, trust me.
Judy Tipp: Why do you say that?
Gloria Minetti Nesstra: He's out of his league. He doesn't have the brains or the self-control to pull anything like this off. He's pretending.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "The X Files" (1993)

Soundtrack:

Prepare

Slapstick Mixed with Psychology

GUN SHY is a peculiar movie, one that purports to have a significant storyline but one that splinters ideas all over the place, leaving the viewer wondering what all the fuss is about.

'Charlie' Mayeaux (Liam Neeson) is a bummed out DEA agent fresh from a bungled case yet given an important assignment to break a Columbian drug cartel represented by Fidel (José Zúñiga) and his boyfriend Estuvio (Michael DeLorenzo). Also caught up in this mélange is the Mafia represented, however reluctantly, by Fulvio Nestra (Oliver Platt), a nerdy but vicious bungler whose temper is uncontrollable, partly due to his insipid belittling wife Gloria (Mary McCormack) whose father demands Fulvio's crime life importance. Charlie is a mess, meets a psychologist who introduces him to group therapy (where Charlie idiotically relates all the DEA secrets openly) and to gastroenterology where nurse Judy (Sandra Bullock) administers a barium enema then other more herbal-sided treatments while she and Charlie become bonded. People are maimed (gunshot castration), killed, made to look foolish, all to the end of supposedly belly laughs on the part of the audience.

True, Neeson shows a flair for comedy and Platt manages to convey a breakthrough role for him, but the rest is a jumbled mess. Made in 2000 with the Twin Towers of New York frequently visible during talk against Arabs and the Middle East, it is easy to see why the timing of this 'yet another Mafia vs law' film contributed to its short theater run (how many have even heard of it?). But in the final analysis it probably failed on its own merits - sad for a film filled to the brim with very fine actors. Grady Harp