Things to Do In Denver When You're Dead

The Man With the Plan Buckwheats Jimmy the Saint and Friends
Scott Rosenberg's script for "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" skates the edge big time in this 1995 film. There are times when what comes out of the mouth of his characters is on a par with Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarrantino, but there are also moments when the verbiage becomes so dense that the film loses momentum. But whether you think that Rosenberg comes out ahead in the end or falls short, I can guarantee you that you will never forget what it means to "Buckwheat" somebody and that "Boat drinks" will sound like a great idea until the day you die.

The situation in "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead" is that Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) and his buddies know there time is coming to an end any moment. Jimmy runs a business where dying people get to videotape words of wisdom from beyond the grave to their loved ones. Throughout the film we get to see clips from such tapes, and if you do not know who is going to appear on the last one then you are not...

GREAT FILM NAMES, GREAT PACE.
They must have liked the script and great characters as Jimmy The Saint, Franchise, E-Z Winn and Mr. Shush. Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken, Steve Buscemi and others decided to forego their usual paydays to act in this now indie classic. THINGS TO DO IN DENVER is a great paced, extremely likeable film. The most fervent work is turned in by Treat Williams, as psychotic Critical Bill, and the major cool, Walken as the wheelchair bound, Man With The Plan (Jenny McCarthy as his nurse). Jack Warden old-pros his way by semi-narrating the tale of a group of misbegotten criminals and their impending doom. I'd buy at the Thick 'N' Rich anyday. Boat drinks all around!

Andy Garcia's best performance among a stellar cast.
I often wonder if director's purposely set out to cast as many eccentrics as possible. We've seen it when Abel Ferrara cast Willem Dafoe and Chris Walken in New Rose Hotel, combining seemingly two of the most bizarre actors in Hollywood. And don't forget At Close Range, which combined Crispin Glover and Walken. Also, Steve Buscemi and Walken were together in Pulp Fiction. Are you noticing a common element? That's right: Walken.

He's here in a bit, but pivotal, role as a mob boss who employs reformed former associate Jimmy "The Saint"(Garcia), nicknamed The Saint due to his former aspirations to be a priest, to do a simple "action." Well, Jimmy and his crew screw up BIG TIME and the crime boss, known on the streets as the "man with the plan", tells Jimmy to leave town or else.....

Jimmy has a moral conflict due to the fact that "the man with the plan" resfuses to offer Jimmy's crew the same mercies. Things gradually digress, with Jimmy's crew finding themselves...

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