Director F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) has none of the facility with story and characters that Barry Sonnenfeld displayed on the original picture.
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.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, sensuality, and language including sexual references
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Mar 4, 2005 Wide
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
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Reviews for Be Cool
A movie that never provides a compelling argument for its own existence.
I spent the bulk of Be Cool thinking that I'd never seen a more badly structured film, nor one so completely -- with little reason -- convinced of its own coolness.
There weren’t any plot threads left dangling at the end of Get Shorty that justified a sequel.
With nary a role in the film that isn’t occupied by a recognizable star, it’s a slightly more humble version of the celebrity get-togethers of Ocean’s 11 and 12.
'Chappelle’s Show' has thrown away wittier music spoofs in their half-smoked roaches.
A laugh every five minutes or so is not cool... it's not worth the vig owed on a matinee ticket.
The Rock gives what I predict might be the Best Supporting performance of the year.
One of the cuddliest, cutest movies you’ll ever see about mobsters and murderers.
Transgressions can be overlooked thanks to cast members so cool they make the title feel like a mantra.
Au cours des 2 premières minutes de Be Cool, Chili Palmer (John Travolta) affirme qu’il déteste les suites. Ha-ha. Comme si cela excusait le reste du désastre qu’est le film.
Just as there's nothing lamer than people who think they're cool, watching a movie that thinks it's cool is tedious.
...a film that could only have been excusable had Trey Parker and Matt Stone made it using puppets.
A messy, overlong film, but it's impossible to take seriously and therefore more than a little entertaining.
Director F. Gary Gray fails to provide the same confidence and snap as Sonnenfeld, but with everyone trying very hard to make this thing work, the rewards are there, if light and short-lived.
Latest News for Be Cool
June 26, 2007:
Travolta On the Fence About "Wild Hogs 2"
Everyone was shocked when "Wild Hogs" became one of the biggest hits of all four stars' careers. It made so much money that it seems like they'd have to make... More...
March 05, 2007:
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Moviegoers rallied behind the star-driven comedy "Wild Hogs," which raced to number one at the North American box office, zooming past all expectations from Disney.... More...
March 01, 2007:
Box Office Guru Preview: "Wild Hogs" Aims to Run Over "Ghost Rider"
One super hero on a motorcycle looks to get replaced by four middle-aged bikers at the number one spot at the North American box office this weekend. More...
September 18, 2006:
Box Office Wrapup: Gridiron Gang #1, but Box Office Still Fumbles
Wrestler-turned-actor The Rock suffered the worst opening of his career with the football drama Gridiron Gang, but thanks to weak competition, it was still enough to capture the... More...
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