Be Cool (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

F. Gary Gray

Writers (WGA):

Elmore Leonard (novel)
Peter Steinfeld (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

Everyone is looking for the next big hit

Plot:

Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer (John Travolta) tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music exec (Uma Thurman) on the way.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Widow | Music Business | Rapper | Bodyguard

Awards:

1 win & 10 nominations

Cast

John Travolta	...	Chili Palmer
Uma Thurman	...	Edie Athens
Vince Vaughn	...	Raji
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Sin LaSalle
André Benjamin	...	Dabu
Steven Tyler	...	Himself
Robert Pastorelli	...	Joe Loop
Christina Milian	...	Linda Moon
Paul Adelstein	...	Hy Gordon
Debi Mazar	...	Marla
Gregory Alan Williams	...	Darryl (as GregAlan Williams)
Harvey Keitel	...	Nick Carr
Dwayne Johnson	...	Elliot Wilhelm (as The Rock)
Danny DeVito	...	Martin Weir
James Woods	...	Tommy Athens

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sensuality, and language including sexual references.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:18PL | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40804) | Iceland:14

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Elmore Leonard named Dwayne Johnson's character after real-life film critic and Detroit Institute of Arts film curator Elliot Wilhelm (the real Wilhelm makes an uncredited appearance early in the film as a patron at the Viper Room).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Raji is talking to Nick Carr his silver chain is repeatedly in/out of his shirt between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Chili Palmer: I hate sequels.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Silver Bells (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Fantasy

Our of Respect for Elmore Leonard I Must Comment

I rarely give ratings less than 5, but in this instance I must weigh in. Elmore Leonard is a great writer with many wonderful, complex books, original characters, crisp dialogue, invigorating plot twists. Films based on his books go way back to Hombre (Paul Newman), Mr. Majestyk (Bronson), and Out of Sight (Clooney / Lopez) among others. Even when done so-so the films at least have some measure of story essence coming through. This one, .... it is simply not a worthy addition to the catalog.

The acting is bad (I do not know why, because these are very capable people here) and the story is handled with stupidity. The characters are re-arranged, the chemistry is missing, the actors and actresses are mis-cast.

Since Elmore Leonard is a really great story teller, I would hope that anyone who does not know his work would be dissuaded from reading his books because they saw this disappointing rendition of one of his stories.

The story is a sequel to Get Shorty. If you have not seen that film, do not watch this. If you have seen Get Shorty, do not proceed to this.

I saw Be Cool a few years back, and tonight have been re-visiting the vid. The first time must not have made such a negative impression because I had forgotten how dismal this sequel was.

Fortunately, I think no less of those who appeared in this film for having done so. They probably expected something more. Get Shorty was original and great fun. Travolta I nearly always like, but he is so much better in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and in the preceding Get Shorty. He was clearly unable to enjoy whatever was going on here.

And I hear Freaky Deaky,another Elmore Leonard book, is in pre-production for 2008 release. Hopefully they can pull it off.

Read the books. They are almost all great.