Country: United States
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Doug Liman
Year: 1999
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Go makes me think of a quote from scripture: Proverbs 16:9 - A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
In Go, people make plans which seem pretty simple, but never turn out as expected.
It’s Christmas Eve. Supermarket checker Ronna (Sarah Polley) is short rent about 400 bucks and is about to be evicted. Desperate for money, she agrees to work a third shift in a row for fellow employee Simon (Desmond Askew), who wants to go party with his friends in Vegas.
When Adam (Scott Wolf) and Zack (Jay Mohr) try to score some ecstasy from Ronna (they usually get it from Simon), Ronna decides on the spur of the moment to try to procure the drugs from Simon’s dealer, Todd (Timothy Olyphant), even though she has never done something like that before. Dangerous situation, right? Oh, it gets worse. It turns out that Adam and Scott are working with Officer Burke (a creepy William Fichtner), and the drug buy is a setup. And that’s only the beginning of Ronna’s troubles. Calamity is constantly just around the corner.
Meanwhile, in Vegas, bubble-headed Simon makes one astonishingly stupid decision after another, leading his level-headed friend Marcus (Taye Diggs) into increasingly dangerous situations.
This is one of those post-Pulp Fiction flicks, so the chronology doubles back on itself, there’s lots of small talk on stuff like Tantric yoga, and all of the separate stories eventually dovetail.
Also, like Pulp Fiction, while none of the characters are obviously likeable, (with the possible exception of Marcus), somehow you worry about these people who have managed to get themselves in hot water with such efficiency. This movie almost could have been called The Darwin Awards because the overall behavior is so self-destructive.
Somehow, then-tyro screenwriter John August (this was only his second produced flick) and director Doug Liman manage to keep the suspense and jeopardy at violin string pitch for most of the ninety minutes, make us care about the fate of our protagonists, and constantly surprise us about their true nature. I think that’s because August refuses to judge and condemn his characters, even the ones that seem evil from the outset.
For example, Officer Burke seems to constantly be dropping hints about his bisexuality and desire to tryst with Adam and Scott, even going so far as to invite them to his home for Christmas dinner with his wife. Wait until you see what he really has on his mind.
Another thing: although William Fichtner nearly steals the film as Officer Burke, every single performance is excellent. That only happens when a director is good with actors.
If you aren’t too quick to morally judge others, and you’re looking for a film that is extremely suspenseful and nervewracking, but has moments of unexpected grace and humor, I’d definitely recommend you check out Go.
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