Movie Notes: Be Cool

September 3rd, 2008

star = 1 star

Starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Cedric the Entertainer
Directed by F. Gary Gray

Synopsis

Mobster / movie producer Chili Palmer (John Travolta) enters the music business, weaving his way through various corrupt industry characters to break a rising star.

The Good

  • Cameos galore.

The Bad

  • The endless list of talented actors (Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Debi Mazar, Harvey Keitel, James Woods) eventually becomes a mark of shame since all fail to add up to anything watchable.
  • This flick glorifies the worst aspects of Los Angeles culture (terrible fashion choices, entertainment industry glitz, style and surface over substance, banality). Example: A music deal is negotiated with Steven Tyler after a Laker’s Game in a sky box while smoking cigars. The “in” for the deal? Uma Thurman has an Aerosmith ass tattoo.
  • A good sign of movie boredom is when one starts analyzing actors’ looks. I questioned the reality of the Rock’s facial hair. My wife thought Thurman looked like a goat, and we both concluded Travolta’s lower jaw is wider than his forehead, leading him to increasingly resemble a reptile. Apologies, but the movie itself wasn’t holding our interest.
  • The real sad moment is when Travolta and Thurman share a dance, meant as  homage to Pulp Fiction, except in this case, it’s to a Black Eyed Peas song and no chemistry or crackle occurs. It’s just sad.

Conclusion

Big thumbs down Be Cool. Skip it.

IMDB: Be Cool
Wikipedia: Be Cool
Rotten Tomatoes: Be Cool

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  • JC
    For me, the real tragedy of this movie is that they keep forcing references to all the best lines from Get Shorty. Rather than coming up with anything new that's funny, the movie just regurgitates, and and result isn't funny at all.

    For those who haven't seen it, Get Shorty, the original story of Chili Palmer, is one of the best mob comedies ever made. Go rent it now.

    Watching this movie just made me wish I were watching Get Shorty for the thousandth time instead. It's inferior in every way imaginable. Talk about a sequel that never should have been made. This one is as bad as City Slickers 2. And that says a lot. Believe me.
  • Heh... as far as 99 cent rentals go, this one wasn't as horrid as Soul Plane but I was still wanting my 99 cents back. I may just rent Get Shorty again to wipe the taste of Be Cool out of my mouth.
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