Be Cool

John Travolta reprises his role as Chili Palmer, Hollywood gangster, who now turns his eye to the music business. Using his "negotiation skills," he tries to run an independent record label with the wife of a murdered friend, played by Uma Thurman, and try to get his young singer (Christina Milian) a hit record.

Before I saw this sequel, I had heard that it was a terrible film. However, Be Cool is still an enjoyable comedy even if it's not as good as the original. The movie focuses on the music industry this time around instead of the movie industry. The music business is portrayed very poorly in the movie and they use a bunch of lame stereotypes. I can't tell if this was the intention or not since Get Shorty did a nice job of spoofing the movie industry. The same can't be said for the sequel and the attempts just come as lazy.

An impressive cast is what saves the movie from sinking. The best performance is given by The Rock and it's nice to see him in a different type of role. Vince Vaughn also gives a funny performance though he started to get annoying before the end. Surprisingly, Uma Thurman gives an average performance and I was expecting more from her. John Travolta returns as Chili and he does an okay job. His performance is kind of dull though. Christina Milian gives a horrible performance and she's also not that good of a singer. Cedric the Entertainer gives a good performance though he isn't in the film for very long. There are also a bunch of cameos including Steven Tyler and James Wood.

F. Gary Gray directs and he does a poor job. He just doesn't handle the film very well and the movie is kind of a mess. There was also a ton of product placement and it got annoying after awhile. Also at 118 minutes, the film is too long and there are a lot of slow spots. The film needed to be edited badly and it clearly wasn't. Fortunately for the film, the actors are able to rise above the weak direction and script and they deliver some funny scenes. Sometimes, the film tried too hard while other times it was actually pretty funny. Compared to the original, the sequel doesn't measure up well. However, Be Cool is a fairly harmless and forgettable comedy. In the end, Be Cool is worth a rental and that's it. Rating 6/10

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.

The sequel to Get Shory has Chili Palmer taking on the music business. Its not as good as the first film, but if taken on its own is a good time passer.

The problem here is two fold. First the film has a running gag about hating sequels, which would be fine if it was just a joke and didn't extend to the film making. Few of the actors in this film seem to be doing more than walking through the film for the cash or as a joke and it shows. The second problem is that there is way way too much going on and way too many people doing it. It seems to me that every time that someone of note shows up the movie has to stop to give them their couple of minutes on screen. Usually the material is decent, but it slows the pace down. I kept wanting to speed things up.

That said I did like the film, but regret having paid movie theater prices to do so. This is a rental, not something you pay ten bucks to see. If you get the chance to rent it or see it on cable give it a shot. Just don't expect an equal to Get Shorty.

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.

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.