 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Be Cool (M)
Directed by F. Gary Gray
 John Travolta is back on the dancefloor in Be Cool with Uma Thurman. Is that dirty dancing or is he just a Saturday night sleazer?
Drop that magnum Dirty Harry, there's a new cool dude in town!
It's been 10 years but at last Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is back.
We first met Chili when he was entering the movie business in Get Shorty. Been there, done that, he's now keen to take on the music industry and when his friend, music producer Tommy Atkins (James Woods) is killed by the Russian Mafia, Chili takes up with his widow, Edie (Uma Thurman) who is now in charge of her dead husband's record production company.
Chili can recognise talent when he hears it and he knows Linda Moon (Christina Milian) has the potential to be a huge star. The fact that she's already under contract to sleazoid Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) is not a problem.
Neither is the fact that Edie's company owes record producer/gangster Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer) $300 grand! (And that's American dollars!) Is anything capable of making Chili lose his cool?
Be Cool is receiving some less than cool reviews from critics who are comparing it unfavourably to Get Shorty. Well I'm not one of those critics. I loved Be Cool, especially the surprisingly hilarious performance from The Rock. Forget action movies, the guy has a real talent for comedy. He stars as Elliot, a gay bodyguard/wannabe actor who works for Raji (Vince Vaughn). It's worth seeing Be Cool just for his performance alone. Believe me, The Rock rocks! I found plenty to laugh at in Be Cool, its chockers full of cool cameos (you can play spot the rock star) and the soundtrack gets down and funky. Definitely a fun way to spend a couple of hours.
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