Go

Christmas time in Los Angeles just isn’t like Christmas anywhere else. One evening takes us through a drug deal gone bad, a rave scene gone right, accidents galore, a fun “boys night” out in Vegas, shootings, homosexual under-and overtones, and an all-around jolly time via the selected lives of several slick teenage candidates.

A mini-PULP FICTION for the quirky kids of today, this movie cranks you through three separate stories taking place on the same night to a raving cast of entertaining characters, chock-full of black humor, non-stop excitement (except the third story, which was my least favorite of the three), a pounding soundtrack, and all the originality that’s been lacking from every other crappy teenage flick to come down the pike this year. Forget SHE’S ALL THAT (6/10) and NEVER BEEN KISSED (5/10), this movie rolls their humdrum cinematic existences into a joint and smokes it! This film’s got punch, plenty of action, many over-the-top scenes, and a convenient, but still satisfying ending, that’ll have you crackin’ up and cringing all at the same time. The one sour note in the entire meal was the “third story” which was particularly slower than the first two, and did manage to bend my interest for a while, but all the same, the conclusion of this film stapled my approval locked, stocked and two smoking barrels! (I don’t even know what that means, but the point is…I enjoyed this movie!)

All of the actors were effective, save for Jay Mohr who is just getting way too many bit parts for his own good. Sarah Polley stood out in them all, while the Vegas boys all deserve a tip of the hat. Director Liman is also to be congratulated for making a film that is still fun, stylish, and quite different from his well-known hit, SWINGERS. Both films do have an underground scene and Vegas in common, but that’s where the similarities stop. GO plays with X-tasy, female lap dancing, oral sex jokes, and Amway products, all tied up in a nice Christmas bow. I also like the separate point of view way of telling each story, the drug-induced sequences (DAZED AND CONFUSED, look out!), and the overall flow of the entire picture (save part trois), which culminated into a fantastic, ravelicious conclusion. Now if you’ve ever come home high as a kite, or wasted out of your gourd…or if you’ve ever had one of those days that you wish would just go away…well, slap them both together, add some drug-laced seasonings, a little pulp-noir, a cast of hipsters and have yourself a jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas of a time, and don’t forget to GO to this awesome, little movie!

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian