Go (1999)

Some movies are to be tasted; other to be swallowed and some are to be devoured. You like or dislike a movie depending on its entertainment value. Art house films are completely a different story. I’m talking about mainstream cinema here. In most cases, you approach a movie with certain level of expectations and you expect to be at least partially satisfied with what you wanted to see in the movie. This is not a lot to ask but most of the time you return disappointed and sometimes they exceed your expectations.
The Only reason I watched “Go” because I was looking for movies employing nonlinear narrative style. I googled and zeroed in on this Doug Liman flick and didn’t have to think twice. Doug’s previous works like “The Bourne Identity” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” were really cool movies that impressed me with its style.
The Movie was a joyride telling the story of 3 supermarket clerks and a gay actor couple whose lives crisscross on the eve of Christmas. It begins with the story of Sarah Polley’s character. She badly needs money to pay her rent. Simon, the British guy, her coworker offers his shift as he’s leaving for Vegas with his friends. She takes his shift and is approached by two men who were expecting to meet Simon there. They tell her that they wanted to buy Drugs and whether she could help them out.
Simon is on his way to Las Vegas with his 3 other friends. He gambles in a Casino, has sex with two women and hits a titty bar with his friend where he run into trouble with the bar bouncer for touching the dancers. He shoots the guy with a gun he got from a car his friend stole from the Casino and flees to LA, escaping the Bar men who wants revenge.
Two struggling actor who are in a homosexual relationship, is forced by a cop to help him in an undercover operation to nab a drug dealer. They are Adam and Zack. They give in to the crooked cop’s persuasions which include a super sexy wife and Amway products. But things get messy when the dealer, Simon at the shop, is replaced by Sarah’s character who is ready to help them “hook up”. When they finally pedal their plan to the floor, Zack’s character undergoes catharsis and tells Sarah’s character to scram. She backs out from the deal. After the set-up goes nuts, the cop invites them to his house for Christmas dinner. He offers them to be a part of his Amway business. Adam and Zack decline his offer and goes to the party. On their way, they confess to each other that they were having affairs with the same person. At the party they confront the guy and attacks him. On their return they hit Sarah’s character to the ditch who was about to be shot by Timothy’s character.
Katie Holmes’ character is followed in the final story. After she splits with her friends at the party she meets with Timothy’s character and warms up to him unlike yesterday. While they engage at physical love at the stairs, two guys come out of his room wanting to know about Simon. At the exact same moment, Simon shows up at the apartment. They agree to settle their differences amicably.
Go, just like the word, gets going right from the start. In its implausible energy it takes the audience to a ride through the worlds of different people whose lives are intertwined with each other that leads to a vicious cycle of their own actions. Actions that ripple through with bitter consequences. Doug Liman, the kinetic director has maintained the movies momentum which makes it all work. The BGM is also really good,in tune with the movies nature and keeps up with its course. “Go” is fun, cool movie that’s unpretentious of its character.