Review of Be Cool (2005) by Graeme H — 03 Jul 2011
It's never a good sign when Brett Ratner pulls out as a film's director. "Get Shorty" was kind of an R-rated, family friendly version of "Pulp Fiction." This sequel to "Get Short" plays more like a waterbed down TV spinoff (with a great cast).
Where "Get Shorty" had a great energy to it and was darkly funny, this film is just dull and only manages a few funny moments. What's worse is this film tries to focus solely on comedy and wastes a terrific cast.
John Travolta and Uma Thurman, nowhere as cool as they were in "Pulp Fiction," can't even generate much energy with this dull story of Chili Palmer getting into the music industry as he did the film industry in the first film.
Chili helps a Beyoncé Knowles-like singer get out of her Destiny's Child-like contract with a crooked record company. However, if anyone survives this mess, I'd say it was Vince Vaughan and Dwayne Johnson who consistently provided laughs during their scenes.
Elmore Leonard only had a handful of successful film adaptations of his books and Scott Frank wrote two of them, "Get Shorty" and "Out of Sight." This film sorely misses Frank and director Barry Sonnenfeld.
This review of Be Cool (2005) was written by Graeme H on 03 Jul 2011.
Be Cool has generally received mixed reviews.
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