Tómalo con calma

The Shylock turned movie mogul is back for a sequel, and this time he is interested in music. The movie industry is just too fake whereas the people in the music industry are real. Chili Palmer, played by John Travolta, has the same antics and same behaviorisms. He is still smarter than the next guy, tougher than him too, and he can beat up your bodyguard.

More characters are introduced in "Be Cool" and they are more outrageous. Actors such as Vince Vaughn, The Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andre, bring some good flavor to the movie. Just like with "Get Shorty", there are other sub-plots that all tie together into the main plot and main character. The movie has more-or-less a similar theme and flow to it as "Get Shorty". I think there were a few more funny parts in "Be Cool", but it lacked the originality of "Get Shorty."

I noticed that there was a different director for this project. His resume' isn't that long, but he has done "Friday", "The Negotiator","The Italian Job", and he is on "The Brazilian Job" project. These weren't that bad, nor was "Be Cool". If he continues to improve from here, he will wind up with a very nice career.

We are born into the doom of being actors. If we are lucky we discover who we are but until then we go through a process of acting a role.

Some movies play with this idea, and "Get Shorty" was one of the most clever of these.

It had two elements: that notion of acting cool and the explicit self-reference of putting it in movies, complete with the command to "look at me."

Behind it was one of the coolest thinkers in cinema, Danny Devito who is a kind of patron saint of self-reference. He who made a film based on "Pale Fire" and whose "Death to Smoochy" is a pinnacle of sorts of introspective writing.

Now comes this, which starts out okay, along the same lines of heavy self-reference until we learn that Devito is to star in a biopic of Johnny Cash.

Then the grind of the inferior mind behind it begins.

Seems they had some idea that Uma Thurman fit into an intelligent enterprise somewhere.

Nope, none of the few things she can do fit into self-reference or folding in any way.

Seems they decided that a mere reference to performance wasn't enough, we had to have the whole pretty-girl-overcomes-adversity thing complete with several performances.

Nope, again.

And they figured that all the cool identity stuff would be carried by a white guy acting black and a black guy acting white.

Nope, nope , nope.

Go watch any Devito-inspired project rather than this.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Be Cool was amusing, but not really very good. From the first scene it was filled with silly references to other movies-especially Pulp Fiction. I'm usually a fan of clever reference, but in Be Cool they mostly fell flat. This movie had four music numbers, a dance sequence, and a montage. It was less a whole film, and more a meaningless parade of cameos. The writing was pretty bad, and most of the performances were desperate and awkward-notably Steven Tyler. Duane Johnson stood out in a movie full of celebrities, as he obviously had a really good time acting, and he was fun to watch. All told, I would have a hard time recommending this film.

Based on Elmore Leonard's novel, 'Be Cool' is an all around entertainer. Sequel to 'Get Shorty', Travolta is back as Chili Palmer and Danny Devito makes two cameo appearances. The rest of the fabulous cast includes the sensational Uma Thurman, a hilarious Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Andre Benjamin, Robert Pastorelli and Christina Milian. Harvey Keitel proves to be very good in comedy but the real surprise is Dwayne Johnson who shows a knack for being funny and probably has the funniest role.

F. Gary Gray does a neat job. The jokes work excellently. The film is well-paced and the writing is consistent. Steinfeld does a good job of rewriting Leonard's book for the big screen. The humour works excellently. None of the jokes fall flat and the cast and crew seem to have had a blast making this film.

It's a shame that the film wasn't as big a success as it's prequel. Frankly, I enjoyed it more than 'Get Shorty'. Above all, 'Be Cool' is a splendid entertainer that will draw loads of laughs.

This is no "Get Shorty" but it's full of so much self-deprecating humor that you can't help but cut it a break. I laughed quite a few times, and there's a lot of fun moments. However, the film is a bit uneven. It's a comedy, but then, how funny is the Russian Mafia? The movie tries hard to find the humor in hit men and quirky characters, but it often seems to be trying a bit too hard. The movie is so crammed with celebrities that it's distracting and the parade of glitterati takes you outside the film more than once. It's less brutal than "Get Shorty" and the language is much milder, but it also lacks the freshness and irreverence that made "Get Shorty" so much fun. As sequels go, it's a pretty good movie, and John Travolta and others in the film are so obviously having a good time, it's impossible not to get into the groove. There are many charming performances, including The Rock and Andre 3000, both showing a real knack for comedy. Definitely worth a visit to the multiplex, as long as you keep your expectations in check.