Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -3

The title, THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, suggests moviemakers have run out of titles. Gangster Jimmy the Saint (Andy Garcia) uses an After-Life Advice parlor as a front for his criminal activities. That's where old people offer their advice on how to live in preparation for death. Things are going smoothly for Jimmy until his boss (Christopher Walken), an evil wheelchair-bound tyrant, orders Jimmy to rescue his demented son from assaulting school girls and get him married. But the plan backfires when the hired killers shoot Meg, the son's fiance', by mistake. In revenge, the boss sets out to have Jimmy and his four henchmen killed. Leaving Denver would be easy except for Jimmy's falling in love with a girl who has no idea his life is in danger. Along with running out of titles, Hollywood has also run out of entertaining, uplifting plots, considering the sordidness of this film.

Episodes of violence are numerous. Especially chilling is a hired killer stalking his victims with a wire noose, whirls it and catches their throats, strangling them. Jimmy kills a man by grabbing him from behind, snapping his neck. Brutal beatings, victims gunned to death, and a man boxing with a corpse in a funeral home are difficult to watch. Victimization of the elderly who pay for "after-life" advice illustrates how depraved these characters are. Filthy language includes at least 96 f-words, 25 s-words and several profanities. The bottom line in this film is "crime does not pay." Nevertheless, graphic, chilling violence, extremely offensive language and numerous sexual innuendos make THINGS TO DO IN DENVER a disgusting film.

Preview Reviewer: Bonnie C. Harvey, Ph.D.
Distributor: Miramax Films, 18 E. 48th St., NY, NY 10017