''Go'' is a 1999 American
crime comedy film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
written by
John August
John August (born August 4, 1970) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and novelist. He is known for writing the films '' Go'' (1999), ''Charlie's Angels'' (2000), '' Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle'' (2003), '' Big Fish'' (2003), ' ...
and directed by
Doug Liman
Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), ''Edg ...
, with intertwining plots involving three sets of characters. The film stars
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on '' Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski o ...
,
Katie Holmes,
Jay Mohr
Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr (born August 23, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and radio host. He is known for his roles as film producer Peter Dragon in the TV comedy series ''Action'', Professor Rick Payne in the TV series ''Ghost Whisperer'' (2 ...
,
Sarah Polley
Sarah Ellen Polley (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian actress,Howell, Peter (September 24, 1999)"Nobody's Starlet: Toronto's Sarah Polley is Only 20 but already a veteran actor so secure in her craft she can thumb her nose at Hollywood" ''Tor ...
, and
Scott Wolf
Scott Richard Wolf (born June 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''Party of Five'' as Bailey Salinger, as Jake Hartman in ''Everwood'', as Chad Decker in ''V (2009 TV series), V'' and as Carson Drew ...
and features
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (born January 2, 1971) is an American stage and film actor. He is known for his roles in the Broadway musicals ''Rent'' and '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', the TV series ''Private Practice'' (2007-2013), ''Murder in the ...
,
Breckin Meyer
Breckin Erin Meyer (born May 7, 1974) is an American actor, musician, writer and producer, known for his roles in films such as ''Clueless'' (1995), ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''Rat Race'' (2001), and '' Garfield: The Movie'' (2004), he's also known f ...
,
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...
,
Desmond Askew
Desmond Askew (born 17 December 1972) is an English actor of film and television. In 1983 he had the lead role of 'naughty schoolboy' in the promo video of the Wham! single " Bad Boys". He has appeared in the films '' Go'' (1999), ''Repli-Kate ...
,
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress, comedienne, and singer. She is best known for her starring role as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four ...
,
J. E. Freeman, and
Melissa McCarthy
Melissa Ann McCarthy (born August 26, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer, and fashion designer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and tw ...
in her film debut.
The film underperformed at the box office, but was critically acclaimed. It has since become a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
Plot
Around
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
, Ronna, working overtime at her supermarket job to avoid being evicted, is approached by Adam and Zack to buy 20 hits of
ecstasy, which they had hoped to buy from her absent co-worker, Simon.
After work, Ronna approaches Simon's dealer, Todd, for the pills. She is unable to pay the full amount so she leaves her friend Claire with Todd as
collateral
Collateral may refer to:
Business and finance
* Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan
* Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Collate ...
. Ronna meets with Adam and Zack but grows suspicious of Burke, a stranger accompanying them who presses her for the ecstasy. She flushes the drugs down the toilet and leaves, then steals over-the-counter pills to replace them, helped by Manny, who had covertly swallowed two of the ecstasy pills, unaware of their strength. Ronna gives 20 of the fake pills to Todd. She, Claire, and Manny then go to a
rave
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
where she sells the rest of the fake pills as ecstasy.
Todd realizes the pills are fake and pursues Ronna to the rave. Ronna flees, hiding the now incapacitated Manny in an alley and promising to return with her car. Todd confronts her with a gun in the parking lot when she is hit by a car that speeds away, leaving her motionless in a ditch.
The story restarts from the perspective of Simon, who is on a trip to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
with Marcus, Tiny, and Singh. Simon crashes a wedding and has sex with two of the bridesmaids before they accidentally set their hotel room on fire. Simon and Marcus leave the hotel, stealing a
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
whose owner thinks Marcus is a
parking valet
Valet parking is a parking Service (economics), service offered by some restaurants, Retailing#Shops and stores, stores, and other businesses. In contrast to "self-parking", where customers find a parking space on their own, customers' vehicles a ...
.
The two go to a
strip club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
where Simon enrages the bouncer, Victor Jr., by groping one of the strippers. Simon shoots Victor Jr. in the arm with a gun that he found in the car. He and Marcus flee to the hotel, rousing Tiny and Singh. A car chase ensues and the four barely escape the bouncer and his father, Victor Sr., but Victor Sr. traces Todd's address from his credit card, which Simon had borrowed.
The story changes perspective to Adam and Zack, actors in a
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
who are in a relationship. Having been busted for drug possession, they are coerced into working for Burke, a police detective, to entrap their dealer. Adam is fitted with a
wire
Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm
A wire is a flexible strand of metal.
Wire is c ...
. As Simon is absent, the two arrange to buy drugs from Ronna. When Ronna arrives later to make the deal, Zack secretly warns her so she flushes the drugs down the toilet and leaves.
After the unsuccessful bust, Burke invites Adam and Zack to Christmas dinner, where they observe strange behavior from Burke and his wife, Irene. Over dinner Burke and Irene pitch a
multi-level marketing
Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...
company to Adam and Zack. Discussing their mutual infidelities, Adam and Zack realize they both cheated with the same person, Jimmy. They confront him at the rave, cutting a lock of his hair.
Leaving the rave they accidentally run over Ronna, panic, and drive away when they see Todd with a gun. Zack tries to reassure Adam that, even if Ronna had survived, Todd would have shot her. Adam realizes to his horror that he is still wearing his wire. Fearing they have been recorded, the two return to the scene to remove Ronna's body but discover she is just unconscious. They prop her up on a car, setting off its alarm, and watch from a distance as other partygoers call an ambulance.
As morning breaks, Claire goes to a restaurant to meet up with Ronna and Manny, but encounters Todd instead. The two end up going to Todd's apartment building. While making out on the stairs they are confronted by the two Victors. Simon arrives, having hoped to hide for a few days. The ensuing scuffle is stopped by Claire, who refuses to witness a murder.
Simon agrees to be shot in the arm by Victor Jr. as Claire leaves in disgust. Meanwhile, Ronna wakes up in hospital and hobbles to the supermarket to start work. Realizing she left Manny at the rave, she and Claire return to the venue to find Manny pale and shaking in the alley. The three go to Ronna's car where Ronna muses that she can now pay her rent and Manny asks what their plans are for
New Year's.
Cast
Production
John August originally wrote the portion of the story involving Ronna as a short film titled ''X'', inspired by the "
Rock 'n' Roll Ralphs" grocery store on
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
.
After friends asked about Simon's trip to Vegas, and what was going on with Adam and Zack, he wrote two more parts, accounting for the nature of the film.
After viewing ''
Swingers'', John August and the producers felt director Doug Liman would be the perfect fit, and Liman signed on soon thereafter. Polley, who resides in Canada, was offered the role directly, without auditioning. Olyphant was a late addition; he was about to shoot the film ''
Practical Magic
''Practical Magic'' is a 1998 American fantasy romantic drama film based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The film was directed by Griffin Dunne and stars Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Aid ...
'' but was fired from his role and replaced by
Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an American actor who made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), ''Stakeout'' (1987), ''Aval ...
, enabling him to join the cast as Todd. He was called in to audition for Adam or Zack, but all agreed he was better as drug dealer Todd, the character he wanted to play.
When ''Go'' was about to start shooting, its foreign financing fell through because the film lacked a "bankable white male star."
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
stepped in and financed the film. As most of the plot takes place at night, August recalled being "outside in the dark from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m. for 25 days" during filming.
Reception
''Go'' was released to critical acclaim. The film received a 91% approval rating from
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 74 critic reviews, with an average score of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "With its sharp dialogue and raucous visuals, ''Go'' entertains at an exhilarating pace." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". Many critics generally found ''Go''s fast pace and light-hearted feel appealing. The film grossed $28.5 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. The film was released in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
on September 3, 1999, and opened at #6.
Because of its irreverent and frequently off topic dialogue, fast pace, rapidly changing point of view, and non chronological format, the film is generally categorized as one of many movies of varying quality that attempted to capture the style of
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
's ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...
''.
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...
, who disliked the film, said that ''Go'' came off as a "junior ''Pulp Fiction''."
However, unlike many of the films in the subgenre, the comparisons were mostly favorable, with
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' stating that "''Go'' is an entertaining, clever black comedy that takes place entirely in Tarantino-land.... ''Go'' has energy and wit, and the performances are right for the material – especially Sarah Polley, who thinks fast and survives harrowing experiences, and Fichtner, the cop who is so remarkably open to new experiences."
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' praised the performances of Olyphant and Fichtner, as well as ''Go''s energy and Liman's direction: "Artfully executed druggy flights of fancy include a hallucinatory
macarena
"Macarena" is a dance song by Spanish pop duo Los del Río, about a woman of the same name. The song uses a type of clave rhythm. Originally appearing on the 1993 album '' A mí me gusta'', a subsequent remix by Miami-based producers The Bays ...
in a supermarket, a mind-reading black cat and a smart visual approximation of how it feels to be on the verge of throwing up. Here and elsewhere, Mr. Liman manipulates speed, light, editing and point of view vigorously and keeps the radio humming. He creates a film that lives up to the momentum of its title and doesn't really need much more."
The film has endured as a cult classic, with critics continuing to review the film. In 2008, Joe Valdez of ''The Distracted Globe'' wrote, "Few titles have the finesse to sum up a movie as brilliantly as ''Go'', a drug fueled rollercoaster ride that alternates between dark comedy and light suspense with terrific verve. The film's appeal lies in its modest scale and the fact that it was made mostly by starving artist types. ...Nearly everyone involved in the production was a relative unknown or newcomer. With no pressure to supply an entertainment to the masses, the writer, director and most of the actors deliver the best work of their careers."
In April 2014, Joe Reid of ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' revisited ''Go'' on the 15th anniversary of its release. Reid noted that at the time it came out, it was seen as a "knock-off" of other 1990s films. "The split narrative style, complete with character title cards separating the film into thirds, put ''Go'' at the top of the list when it came to late '90s Tarantino influenced cinema. And then there was director Doug Liman, red hot off of the cult success of ''
Swingers'', trading neo swing culture for X and raves. (Both films would give a healthy chunk of attention to Vegas, though.) The thing about ''Go'' that sets it apart, however, is that it's COMPLETELY FANTASTIC. Energetic and quotable and stylish and neither overly enamored with nor overly dismissive of the culture it's inhabiting."
Soundtrack
Awards and nominations
In popular culture
''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode "
Trilogy of Error
"Trilogy of Error" is the eighteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 266th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 2001. In the ...
" is, according to the writers' commentary, based on this film.
[Selman, Matt (2009). The Simpsons ''The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error"'' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.]
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Go (1999 Film)
1999 films
1990s crime comedy-drama films
1999 thriller films
American crime comedy-drama films
American LGBT-related films
1999 LGBT-related films
American thriller films
1990s English-language films
Films directed by Doug Liman
American anthology films
Bisexuality-related films
1990s chase films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about drugs
Films scored by BT (musician)
Films set in Los Angeles
Films set in the Las Vegas Valley
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films shot in the Las Vegas Valley
American independent films
1999 independent films
American nonlinear narrative films
Films with screenplays by John August
Hyperlink films
1990s Christmas comedy-drama films
1990s American films