Be Cool

Critics Consensus

Be Cool is tepid, square, and lukewarm; as a parody of the music business, it has two left feet.

30%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 171

42%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 212,559
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Movie Info

Underworld hipster Chili Palmer is back in the entertainment business in this sequel to the 1995 hit Get Shorty, which like the first film is based on a novel by Elmore Leonard. Gangster-turned-movie producer Chili (once again played by John Travolta) has grown tired of the screen trade, especially after his latest project turned out to be a box-office flop. Chili is looking for new horizons and thinks he may have found his niche when his close friend Tommy Athens (James Woods), a fellow mobster who runs an independent record label, is murdered by Russian gangsters. Chili takes over Athens' record company, Nothing to Lose Records, and begins courting Tommy's girlfriend, Edie (Uma Thurman). Edie is an experienced hand in record production, and together she and Chili spot what would seem to be the ideal act for their label -- Linda Moon (Christina Milian), a beautiful young woman with a powerhouse voice. Linda is stuck, however, in a going-nowhere R&B trio managed by the monumentally sleazy Raji (Vince Vaughn). Chili isn't much concerned about Linda's contract with Raji, but Raji certainly is, and the manager soon takes out a contract on Chili with the same Russian hoods who killed Tommy. Soon Chili is facing all the action he can handle between the Russian gunmen, a music mogul named Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) who wants Chili to stay out of the business, and Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer), a successful hip-hop producer who wants Chili to pay him the 300,000 dollars he is owed by Tommy. Be Cool also features appearances by The Rock as a gay Samoan bodyguard, Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000 from the hip-hop duo Outkast) as a rapper who isn't very good with a gun, and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler as himself.

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Cast

John Travolta
as Chili Palmer
Uma Thurman
as Edie Athens
Vince Vaughn
as Raji
Cedric the Entertainer
as Sin LaSalle
André Benjamin
as Dabu
Steven Tyler
as Himself
Robert Pastorelli
as Joe Loop
Christina Milian
as Linda Moon
Paul Adelstein
as Hy Gordon
Debi Mazar
as Marla
Gregory Alan Williams
as Darryl
Harvey Keitel
as Nick Carr
Dwayne Johnson
as Elliot Wilhelm
Danny DeVito
as Martin Weir
James Woods
as Tommy Athens
James Gandolfini
Wyclef Jean
as Himself
Fred Durst
as Himself
Taboo
as Himself
Sergio Mendes
as Himself
Gene Simmons
as Himself
Minae Noji
as Miss Bangkok
RZA
as Himself
Joe Perry
as Himself
Anna Nicole Smith
as Herself
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Critic Reviews for Be Cool

All Critics (171) | Top Critics (39)

View All Critic Reviews (171)

Audience Reviews for Be Cool

  • May 28, 2015
    Based on the Elmore Leonard novel, Be Cool is a satirical crime thriller. After hearing a promising young singer at a night club movie producer Chili Palmer decides to go into the music business and producer her album, but first he'll have to get her record contract from a rival company and settle a debt with local gangsters. Starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Harvey Keitel, and The Rock, the film features an all-star cast. However, the characters are a little too lighthearted and silly. In fact the tone of the entire film lacks Leonard's typical edginess, and goes more for farce than satire. Still, Be Cool is fairly entertaining and delivers some good laughs.
    Dann M Super Reviewer
  • Jul 27, 2013
    It has a dynamic cast of actors, musicians and entertainers, but Be Cool can't deliver from the amount of starpower it possessed. The film is bland and has a giggle every now and then, but otherwise, just flat. 2/5
    Eugene B Super Reviewer
  • Nov 25, 2011
    I dont remember a whole lot but I remember thinking, "What the hell is the movie even about?" The commercials boasted an all-star cast but that is all that it delivered. One forgettable, dry, and pretentious movie.
    Albert K Super Reviewer
  • Jun 29, 2011
    chili palmer deserved better then this trash. i loved the first film but this is a cheap cash in
    Brendan N Super Reviewer
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