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Be Cool (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:165
Fresh:48
Rotten:117
Average Rating:4.6/10
Consensus: Be Cool is tepid, square, and lukewarm; as a parody of the music business, it has two left feet.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $55,590,667
Synopsis: In this sequel to the 1995 mobster comedy GET SHORTY, John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer, a smooth-talking loanshark turned successful movie producer. But he's tired of the film industry, and so... In this sequel to the 1995 mobster comedy GET SHORTY, John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer, a smooth-talking loanshark turned successful movie producer. But he's tired of the film industry, and so he sets his sights on the music business, teaming up with music producer Edie (Uma Thurman)--the widow of a recently murdered colleague. Seeing great potential in an up-and-coming singer named Linda Moon (Christina Milian), Chili makes it his goal to rescue the young talent from her sleazy manager Raji (Vince Vaughn), and make her a star. But it doesn't take long for Chili to realize that in the music industry, not everybody plays by the rules. Combining organized crime and record label know-how as they infiltrate the music industry, Chili and Edie (Thurman) must free Moon from her contract with Raji and record label exec Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel), while fending off the Russian mafia and a whole slew of enemies, played by Cedric the Entertainer, and Andre Benjamin (of OutKast), among others. Director F. Gary Gray casts The Rock against type as Raji's flamboyant, aspiring-actor bodyguard, Elliot. In fact, the film's most humorous scene might be when Elliot breaks into Edie's home in order to show Chili a monologue from the film BRING IT ON. Overall, the film's tone is a self-referential one, established in the first five minutes by Chili's complaints over the nature of sequels and the PG-13 rating system itself. From here on out, the film's humor becomes more and more dependent on the audiences knowledge of all things pop culture, with a dance scene between Travolta and Thurman recalling their memorable pairing in PULP FICTION. [More]
Starring: Vince Vaughn, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Cedric the Entertainer
Starring: Vince Vaughn, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Cedric the Entertainer, Steven Tyler, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Danny DeVito, Robert Pastorelli, Paul Adelstein, James Woods, André Benjamin
Director: F. Gary Gray
Director: F. Gary Gray
Screenwriter: Peter Steinfeld
Producer: Danny DeVito, Stacey Sher, Michael Shamberg, David A. Nicksay
Composer: John Powell
Studio: MGM/UA
Reviews for Be Cool
Self-mocking jokes prevail in F. Gary Gray's feisty cinematic version of Elmore Leonard's irreverent Los Angeles based novel.
The characters are still engaging, but the story is a mess this time around.
Nothing here feels authentic--not the occasionally funny thugs or the supposed ‘street cred’ vibe that hits like a thud.
Less like a story than an assemblage of moments and top-notch character acting, but as far as cinematic trifles go, it's guilt-free.
There's some fun to be had here, but measured against Get Shorty, the movie doesn't fare so well.
The whole film is a great piece of eye candy with many LA sites and a lot of music and action.
...attempts to look effortless in seeming hip, but the wink-wink, nudge-nudge jokes about sequels, Hollywood, and the music world come off as familiar and self-congratulatory.
A half-hearted, loosey-goosey sequel so floppy and laid-back that it just sort of lounges on a sun chair and soaks up the audience's good intentions.
Funny and smart, nicely crafted without being overly artsy, and quirky but approachable. If only every sequel were this much fun.
Latest News for Be Cool
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September 18, 2006:
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