A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Dir. F. Gary Gray - Starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, Cedric the Entertainer, Andre Benjamin, Christina Milian, The Rock, Steven Tyler, Robert Pastorelli, James Woods, Paul Adelstein, Debi Mazar, Gregory Williams
In 1995, 'Get Shorty' grossed the box office by poking fun at its own game. It had consistent charm, creative characters, and a smoking screenplay all wrapped up in one big package - where the simple loan shark for the mob hooks himself up with a job into show business. The premises to Elmore Leonard's hit novel have had a ten-year break, until new-age screenwriters have been able to collect some prime material for a sequel. Certainly, the uprising of pop music and crunk have set the scene for 'Be Cool', where our hero Chili Palmer has switched over to the music industries for the next big hit. In complete honesty, the sequel has far less charisma than its precursor, especially due to the dulling down of several major characters in order to even out this powerhouse of cast members. The screenwriters have to deal with the particularly stupid stereotypes of rap artists and corporate labels, but for about three-quarters of the film, it kept me wholely entertained. 'Be Cool' is a chain-reaction of caricatures and cartoons piled together to create a more wholesome experience - it has its occasional laugh-out-loud moments as well as its witticisms on modern-day musical competition.
Our movie begins with Chili Palmer (Travolta) chatting with his music-industry partner Tommy Athens (Woods), who gets shot and killed less than five minutes into the film. He was shot by the Russian mafia, who Tommy owed three-thousands dollars to. Chili, who wants to switch over to the music business, gets his opportunity when he talks to Tommy's seducing widow Edie (Thurman), who is interested in the latest act that Palmer just found in a small club recently. The act stars a young singer named Linda Moon (Milian), who Chili thinks has the right stuff for a rising star - but her creative manager Raji (Vaughn), who thinks he's black, disapproves of this. Chili could care less, and directly tells Raji that he is Linda's new manager. Raji tells his boss, Nicky Carr (Keitel), the owner of Carousel Records - and Nicky sends an assassin Joe Loop (Pastorelli) in order to kill him. Meanwhile, Chili has to deal with death threats from Nicky's group, as well as a rap label boss Sin LaSalle (Cedric) and his pal Dabu (Benjamin), including helping Raji's gay bodyguard Elliot (The Rock) get an audition for a movie. Certainly this sounds very confusing, but in retrospect it's very easily to comprehend; it all falls together when you're watching.
John Travolta, the perennial Tony Manero, looks sluggish in his performance but continues to act at a satisfactory level. The role of Chili Palmer is not one of much energy in the first place, which makes it easier for an aging Travolta. He still manages to pull off the same amount of wit and 'cool' that he glazed 'Get Shorty' with, but his screentime also feels limited in some respect. He gets his share of the spotlights, and does just a fine job with it. Uma Thurman's character is not one of much diversity, so I didn't find her character to be all that impressive. She feels like another supporting character, except with much sex appeal and very little laughs. Vince Vaughn scores the biggest laughs in his character of Raji - one of the few that I least expected to laugh at. There's not a whole lot of genuine entertainment one can get out of a white guy trying to act black, but somehow Vince keeps a steady balance to his dish-out routine. He gets very energetic in parts, and keeps it cool in others. In short, Harvey Keitel did a perfectly fine job as the sleazy corporate manager Nicky, Cedric did a satisfying job as the educated urban-outfit boss, The Rock is hysterical as a homosexual macho man with very limited talent, and Andre 3000 manages to score great laughs through his crass behavior.
'Be Cool' feels more streamlined than 'Get Shorty', but that may be a result of the technology update. There aren't any explosions or fancy tech moves to widen the audience's appeal, and that's certainly a 1up to this film's production. The director, F. Gary Gray, who directed 2003's loud and audacious action 'The Italian Job', places a relaxing mood on the movie through its jazzy score and fancy locales. The script knows not to go out of the hand and ruin the mood, but keeps its 'cool' with the fast-paced crime scenes. A little less darker than its predecessor's satire, 'Be Cool' knows when and when not to turn up the speed. The script never sinks to the potty humor or sexual lows, which is bound to keep more audience members entertained than trashy jokes. Surprisingly it manages to keep a PG-13 rating despite the excessive amounts of language (even poking fun and its dirty mouth).
'Be Cool' is an amusing decent sequel to 'Get Shorty', although no where near as smart as it. The book by Elmore Leonard has been tainted in order to keep younger audiences entertained and not to exercise its creative abilities. Sure, it has its funny moments, and occasionally has its stupid moments, but all-in-all, it's a cool flick.
