James Smith Within minutes of watching this movie, before the credits finished rolling, I could tell it had been written and directed by the same person.The writer had come up with what they obviously thought was a great idea, and no director was going to tell them they were wrong.I'm not sure how they convinced such big names as Liam Neesom and Sandra Bullock to star - maybe it looked better on paper?To begin with, (spoiler alert) having the main character sitting on the floor of the airport toilet interacting with imaginary people isn't a phobia or post traumatic stress syndrome - it's insanity.How is he able to magically distinguish between the phantom and real situations of his world? How can he function at all in the real world?Having the psychiatrist sitting next to him on the plane is a coincidence of biblical proportions. What's worse, is that the psychiatrist asks him if he is OK. Wouldn't it be more realistic for the psych to keep his head down - unless he is so unsuccessful he is flying around, trolling for new patients. Think Fawlty Towers and the psychiatrist episode with a Basil Fawlty bouncing up and down outside the psychiatrists room - their response - we are on holidays.Once the titles confirmed this was written and directed by the same person, and based on how bad the beginning was, I turned it off.Pinot recommended at all.

btm1 "Gun Shy"is a comedy posing as an action film. It actually starts out as an interesting post-traumatic stress special agent story. But it is at the climax when it gets hilarious.I was a big fan of the Alec Guinness comedies, including his "crime" films, "The Lavender Hill Mob" and "The Ladykillers." The cinematic style is different but the understated humor is similar.Charlie Mayeaux (Liam Neeson) is an undercover agent suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. He is on a case involving an unpredictable psychotic killer, Fulvio (Oliver Platt). He is sure that he will die in this assignment. It's a follow up to an earlier assignment in which he was about to be killed when he was saved by his task force. All the bad guys were killed, except for one. The gangsters killed in that raid worked for Fulvio, and the DEA wants Charlie to renew his contact with Fulvio's people in the hope that Charlie will meet Fulvio (whom he has never seen except as imagined in his nightmares). They are less interested in catching Fulvio than having him lead them to the big drug cartel bosses.I agree with the critics who complain that the ending of the film doesn't fit with what came before, but by then we know not to take the story as a serious one anyhow.

Paul Zink I can't recall how I heard of this movie, but having seen it once, I immediately bought the DVD. This is a fine oddball comedy, propelled by a script that doesn't waste a singled word and brilliant casting. Everyone is perfect in his or her role, from Liam Neeson as the undercover DEA agent who has lost his nerve, to Sandra Bullock as the love interest. Oliver Platt turns in a wonderful performance as the "Jeffrey Dahmer of Mafia hit men", and Richard Schiff is hilarious in his role as a overstressed member of Neeson's therapy group, who resorts to biting his hand to repress his anger impulses. Gun Shy is well balanced, well paced, and full of satisfying small surprises and twists -- especially the hilarious closing line of dialog. See it and enjoy.

dj-355 I love this movie! I must have watched it at least 20 times - and it doesn't get old! Oliver Platt is brilliant as the downtrodden would-be mobster - gruff and domineering, yet extremely likable. Liam Neeson plays the 'once incredibly capable and now a quivering bundle of flatulence' undercover agent with finesse - and the situations he finds himself in are ludicrous and hilarious. Sandra Bullock is,as always, gorgeous, and in this film, very understated as the love interest, giving her an edge I haven't seen in her work before. The soundtrack scores well too, as any would that includes Tom Waits and music of a similar ilk. Definitely one for those who like their comedy with a good twisting tale. Suspend disbelief and enjoy the journey, it's a blast!