Get Carter (2000)

Director:

Stephen T. Kay

Writers (WGA):

Ted Lewis (novel)
David McKenna (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The Truth Hurts

Plot:

Jack Carter, a mob enforcer living in Las Vegas, travels back to his hometown of Seattle for his brother's funeral...

Plot Keywords:

Funeral | Loss Of Loved One | Golf | Death Of Loved One | Loss Of Brother

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Jack Carter
Miranda Richardson	...	Gloria
Rachael Leigh Cook	...	Doreen
Rhona Mitra	...	Geraldine
Johnny Strong	...	Eddie
John C. McGinley	...	Con McCarty
Alan Cumming	...	Jeremy Kinnear
Michael Caine	...	Cliff Brumby
John Cassini	...	Thorpey
Mickey Rourke	...	Cyrus Paice
Mark Boone Junior	...	Jim Davis (as Mark Boone Jr.)
Garwin Sanford	...	Les Fletcher
Darryl Scheelar	...	Security Guard
Crystal Lowe	...	Girl #1
Lauren Lee Smith	...	Girl #2 (as Lauren Smith)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language, some sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Alphacine)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (No. 37609) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) (Canadian Home Video rating) | South Korea:15 | Mexico:C | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Peru:14 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

Rhona Mitra's character, Geraldine, may be a nod to Geraldine Moffat, who played a similar character in the original Get Carter (1971).

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight in the elevator, Carter's suit is ripped at the back. Later the suit is intact again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jack Carter: Hello, Mr. Davis. My name is Jack Carter, and you don't want to know me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stranded (2001/I)

Soundtrack:

Joy to the World

Effective. Complex. Layered. Well acted. Sharp. Smart.

I simply do not get what certain people have against this movie. Sure, it's not a cinematic breakthrough, but it is very sharp, smart and focused. Jack Carter's brother, Richie, dies under mysterious circumstances. Jack goes back to his home town to check things out and perhaps find out the truth. What he finds is not all that easy to get to grips with.

This is not your usual run of the mill revenge movie. The story has some layers to it and I am surprised to see that people did not appreciate that. Jack Carter is not a good guy. He is a bad man working in bad town doing bad things. Always was a bad guy. But he reaches a moment in his life when the things that take place between him and his boss's girl Audrey, the things that he finds out about his brother and his brother's family, all of them act as a catalyst. For once in his life he tries to set things right. How does he do that? By doing what he knows to do. He does bad things. The guys he goes up against are a little a out of the reach of the law. To wait for justice to set things right is not a concept Jack is familiar with. The only things he knows is to take care of his own dirty laundry. And at the moment his life is his dirty laundry. He was not there for his brother, for his niece and he missed some oportunities... Time to set things right. But he does only bad things in this movie. He kills people by shooting them, by throwing them out of the balcony, by beating them up in the elevator. WHY? Because these are the same things that would happen to him if he let his guard down.

Great acting performances form most guys in the movie. Stallone seems to have found some serious acting genes within himself. This is some of his best work and his best is very good. Not only for the genre. Although when looking back at Oscar (his 1991 comedy), D-Tox (a very underrated movie) and Copland I have to say that this is not a one off. No sir. When the script, the director and the rest of the cast are good he can act big time. Michael Caine made a very good movie called get Carter back in 1971. I love that movie and is always one of my favorites to watch on Turner Classic Movies. The remake, I felt, is just as good. Sure it has the sort of usual happy ending, but that is just the American Way of ending action movies. They love a hero. Mickey Rourke, Alan Cummings, Michael Caine and Rachael Leigh-Cook are very good in this one. Somehow Miranda Richardson seemed a little over the top in her angry widow/mother scenes.

Michael Caine acted in this one simply because he knew it was good. The movie could have been done without him, without a doubt. But he did it because unlike other remakes, this one is just as good as the original. It has it's own style, a somewhat different story and a happier ending. Otherwise, they are two very similar movies. And even if some consider the original as better, they should not write this one off. The layers are there, you just have to dig. And this only because the producers did not get this movie. The director, the cast, everybody got this movie and knew what they were making except for the producers who seem to have been thinking of another movie. Michael Caine seems to have given his seal off approval to Stallone's acting in this one. The producers wanted a classic 80's action movie. At least that's what I feel. So, this is a very good movie. Just as good (or almost as good, depending on how you look at it) as the original. It has great acting, sharp directing, nice car chase scenes, nice action scenes, some great moments, some wonderful music, a simple yet effective storyline that keeps you guessing and wanting to see more. And as someone put it, crap like XXX, The Fast and The Furious (+sequel, at least is has some cars), Charlie's Angels (+sequel. could not even watch) and other such teen-hormone-slang-flash-driven movies have a higher rating, IT SIMPLY ISN'T RIGHT!!!!!! 7.5/10