Divine mais dangereuse

One Night at McCool's is a very funny movie that is more intelligent than what it should be. Its form is more sophisticated than what I expected, and its randomness was superb. The thoughts behind the movie (mysogeny, sadism, stupid men) are are infantile. That's what I have to say about this movie is that not only does it hate women, but it loathes men. It doesn't have any sympathy for any of the men, really. It seems that way because of the form, but the ending says it all. Nobody cares.

The form has the first 2/3 of the movie told in flashback by three characters: Dillon, the stupid bartender; Reiser, the mysogenistic stupid lawyer; and Goodman, the stupid, holier-than-thou cop. The story is therefore always perverted by their own self images and altered realities. Reiser's BBQ fantasy is a great touch. In the end, we never really know the truth, and nothing is what it seems. Dillon was never that innocent, etc.

Actually, the rest of the movie is funny too. From the randomness of the last 5 seconds of the movie to the overly-obviousness of Tyler's manipulations, the movie seems to have an energy all its own. Everything is just out of the blue, and nothing seems to make sense. Do we really care if it does? No.

It is also a very dark comedy, but has a shallow presentation. Think Nurse Betty, or Jawbreaker. Very candy coated outside, dark chewy inside. If you like your movies random, dark, or just purely mean, see this movie. This one will satisfy your urges for the strangeness that is One Night at McCool's.

8/10

One Night At McCool's:

I recently began to wonder how long it had been since a movie had really made me laugh. Not just smile, but bust a gut, wipe tears out of my eyes, clutch my side, think I'm going to stop breathing, roar with laughter. Frighteningly enough I realized it had been months. Ever since "There's Something About Mary", directors and writers have equated super gross-out with funny. However, the recent spate of disastrous "comedies" - "Tomcats" and "Freddie Got Fingered" instantly come to mind- have hopefully shown just how wrong this thinking is. Does anyone in Hollywood remember how to make a good comedy? I'm still undecided.

Jewel is the kind of woman that every man wishes for: tall, gorgeous, aggressive and a "demon in the sack". Unfortunately as the saying goes, if something seems too good to be true… Jewel's charms are backed up by a penchant for philandering, double cross and murder. After one night at a back street dive of a bar, three unlucky men - a bartender, a lawyer and a police officer - learn what it's like to have there prayers and worst nightmares come true when they're caught up in her whirlwind.

"One Night at McCool's" plays like the Japanese classic "Rashomon" -different people recount their experiences of the same event and we're never quite sure which one to believe. This movie marks the breakout performance of Liv Tyler both literally and figuratively - as Jewel she is practically spilling out of her clothing, and abandons her innocent persona delivering one of the best vixen performances in recent memory. She is positively wicked. Matt Dillon is enjoyable as the pitiable sop who, although his life is destroyed by her conniving, can't seem to let her go. Paul Reiser manages not to be too annoying as a sleazy lawyer, while John Goodman, who seems to be wheezing through his lines, is quite distracting. Michael Douglas' turn as a slimy coifed contract killer with an agenda all his own is quite amusing and you want to take a shower every time he is onscreen. Andrew Dice Clay (remember him?) and Reba McEntire round out the cast with decent performances.

Aside from the aforementioned movie reference, "One Night at McCool's" borrows liberally from such classic films as "Coolhand Luke" and "Falling Down". While I enjoyed these and other manipulations, the movie spends a little too much time trying to be clever and consequently suffers from several noticeable lulls. What I found most disappointing however was the "surprise" ending that many people have commented on - although I did laugh at it, the effect would have been much greater if it had not been revealed in the trailers (on the off chance you have not seen them, I will say no more)!! I laughed nonetheless.

"McCool's" succeeds largely because it is subtle, well acted and most importantly, funny.

I must admit, I liked this movie, and didnt find it all misogynist. It could be subtitled, three ways of looking at LiV Tyler. Three different men become obsessed with the same woman,and tell their stories to very different characters;One man(John Goodman) tells his story to a priest(the very funny Richard Jenkins).For Goodmans charcter, the Liv Tyler character is an idealized saint, the second coming of his sainted wife,Theresa.For Paul Riesers character(who tellls story to a shrink(a fine, understated performance by the great Reba Mcintire),the Liv Tyler character is simplyan object of (kinky)sexual fantasy.Finally Matt Dillons rather dimwitted charcter tells HIS side of the story to a sleazy hit man, played by Micheal Douglas.All three of these narratives of obsession are told simultaneously,and all are amusing. Finaly the film ends in a bizarrely funny climax, that I wont give away.

"One Night at McCool's" is one of those quirky films that comes out quite interesting. It portrays a young woman (Liv Tyler) crossing paths with three lonely men (Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser) and turning their lives upside down. Throughout most of the movie, you sort of wonder where it's going, but the hilarious end is sure to blow you away. It sure blew me away.

Maybe this movie isn't really anything special, but it's pretty neat. Sort of a look at how small things can proliferate. Also starring Michael Douglas, Reba McEntire and Andrew Dice Clay.

And one more thing: after watching this movie, you may feel tempted to spend the next few days singing "YMCA".

This is a very good black comedy, with a great view on how different people have a different perception of the same situations. The three main characters each met a girl named Jewel, played by Liv Tyler, who is a different male fantasy for each of the three men. Each of the three men go through the same situations, but when they tell of them to other people, their perception of the situation is very different from what the other two say. That is a very good concept, probably not entirely original but it works very well in the movie. The plot is very good, very bizarre and extreme, which makes it a good black comedy. The acting is equally good, not one of the actors seemed out of place or out of their league. The comedy is very black, pitch black in some scenes, and a lot of people will definitely be offended by it, but fans of black comedy will probably enjoy it. Overall, this movie is not for everyone's taste, but most people who like black comedy will probably love it, as it is definitely one of the better black comedies. 7/10