Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead – Review

Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead features a stellar title, and an okay enough crime tale. While it’s not quite as sharp as many of the films of the time that it emulates a bit, it has enough to warrant a look, especially with the good cast. I do not think reviewers liked it much, and not sure it ever caught a lot of attention at the box office, but for under the radar crime tales, it’s not bad.

Following Jimmy “The Saint” Tosnia (Garcia) and his attempt to leave the gangster game behind, we are shown he has invested his time and money into a new business operation. This legit attempt of making money allows elderly or terminal people to record a slew of videos for loved to give them advice well after they are gone. Truly a business model of the 90s, Jimmy finds it somewhat rewarding to help people as opposed to bring hurt and violence to their doors.

The problem for Jimmy is that to escape the game, he had to take out a note from some gangsters and finance his new operation. This note has shifted parties, and now The Man with the Plan (Walken) is calling on it, as he is in need of an ‘action.’ See, this man’s son has had a rough go of things lately and made some mistakes. The kid is hung up on an ex-flame which has moved on.

The Man wants Jimmy to get together a crew, put a plan in motion, and put the fear of God into the ex-flame’s new beau, running him off and allowing for his son to step back in. It should be a simple action, nothing drastic or violent is needed.

Jimmy, having been out of the game for a while, turns to some of his old friends and crew members. However, he finds that most of them have moved on from crime also. Olden “Pieces” Polymeros (Lloyd) run the projector at a local porn theater. Francis “Big Bear Franchise” Chiser (Forsythe) is off raising his kids in a trailer park. Some of the rest of the crew is not in as good a shape, as Bill “Critical Bill” Dolittle (Williams) is still fighting old demons, and Earl “Easy Wind” Denton (Nunn) butts heads with him over past events.

The cast is very good, and the movie is overall entertaining despite some slower moving moments, and a few characters or subplots which were a tad underdeveloped. Fans of gangster crime movies will find plenty to be happy with, as there is a nice mythology woven into the dialogue and characters as it goes. It’s not quite as well put together as some of the 90s classics, but is still worth the time.

So, will this raggedy crew be able to formulate a solid plan and deal with their given action? Well, being a meandering crime tale, one can surmise that things will go awry in some way, shape or form. Come find out how. Give it a name!