Arriving in the wake of Pulp Fiction, the performance confirmed the actor’s reawakened star power, and he brought the character to life with the perfect mix of cool and dangerous.
Barry Sonnenfeld’s Get Shorty turns 25 this week, having been first released in October 1995, and while there is a great deal to appreciate about the film in retrospect, there’s no arguing the highlight that is John Travolta’s turn as gangster-turned-producer Chili Palmer.
His face is now what one imagines when reading Elmore Leonard’s original novel – which is pretty funny when you consider that it definitely wasn’t Travolta who was in the minds of Sonnenfeld and screenwriter Scott Frank when the movie was originally coming together.