Product: Gun Shy (2000)
Rating: 4.0
Funny Offbeat Buddy-Buddy Movie
Very enjoyable movie which has Liam Neeson as Charlie Mayeaux, a deep cover DEA operative who has suddenly been struck down with ever increasing panic attacks. A near death experience, while witnessing his partner being murdered, has caused a certified psychiatric mental breakdown. Don't even think to ask about watermelons.But regardless of his ever fragile mental state and ensuing physical ailments, which hilariously includes the loss of bowel control, his DEA bosses insist he continue his mission to take out two wannabe drug cartels. One cartel led by the unloved son-in-law of an Italian mob boss. The other, led by the unloved son of a Columbian cocaine king. The former because he's a homicidal nutter, the latter because... well, it's sort of nut-related too. :-DIt's Charlie's job to break their evolving empire. The problem is, without powerful prescription drugs, he's seriously unstable and more likely to take down his drawers to do a Number Two - rather than take down a bunch of bad guys.Let me preface the following by saying Oliver Platt is one of my favorite actors. His role as the other half of this unconventional buddy-buddy flick is insanely funny.Platt portrays Fulvio Nesstra, the mob hitman whose continual self-defeating instinct toward every life situation is to just whack you. And I mean every situation, like what happens to the poor (and innocent) neighbor whom Fulvio believes is stealing his morning paper. Watching his constant and continual efforts to control that instinct is *hilarious*.Despite the fact Fulvio is borderline psychotic, in his defense, I honestly believe you can be "made" to become insane if specific pressures and extreme circumstances force the condition on you. I'm not debating the official psychiatric diagnosis, only as it applies to this funny dark comedic performance delivered by Platt.There's an almost child-like tenderness which shows he has profound regrets becoming the cleaner for the family. And one imagines it's the only life he's ever known; a prisoner of circumstance. Fulvio's tomatoes (shared fruit imagery with Charlie's watermelons) seems to me, Director Blakeney's life altering metaphor for the pair of unlikely friends.Gun shy is pure farce but exceptionally done. I only wish they had worked in a hypnosis gag for Charlie, those usually play well in films of this type. Ah well. :-)