BE COOL A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
F. Gary Gray's BE COOL is so pathetic that it is hard to know where to start in discussing it. The studio appears to have had a single idea -- that, if they made a sequel to GET SHORTY, they could make a lot of money. After signing up a good cast, they appear to have asked them all to just phone in their performances in order to save time. The result is a would-be comedy that doesn't appear ever to even try to be funny. Although there are plenty of dead bodies, what the movie kills the most is time.
The change from GET SHORTY is that Chili Palmer (John Travolta) has traded in the movie business for the record business. This means that the movie stops periodically for musical numbers. If the movie had momentum, which it never does, these dead music moments would have stopped it.
The movie's saddest part occurs when Travolta and his co-star Uma Thurman take to the dance floor. Those of us old enough to remember the energy and excitement that Travolta brought to the dance floor in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER may feel like crying that Travolta has been reduced to numbers as lame as his dance number this time. He circles Thurman like a old boxer trying to avoid a punch. Whoever choreographed it has done something even more criminal than the Russian mob, which is featured in one of BE COOL's many subplots.
BE COOL runs too long at 1:54. It is rated PG-13 for "violence, sensuality, and language including sexual references" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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