The latest sequels in Hollywood are about as bad as being one quarter too short for the laundry. The regular movie-goer walks into a sequel expecting all the magic from the first to reappear in some new and untapped form. The studios keep churning out these over-manufactured sequels, but fails to keep the original spark alive. Ever since the summer of sequels in 2003 ("Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," "X2," etc.), we have all been bombarded with a dreadful chain of film clones. The trick to surviving these movies is for audience members to lower their expectations, and they might just be surprised and end up enjoying themselves.
"Be Cool" is the sequel to 1995's "Get Shorty," and while it gets on the list of funniest mob comedies ever, it can't shake a stick at the original.
John Travolta plays the always-cool gangster from Brooklyn, Chili Palmer. Disenchanted with the movie industry, he's on the lookout for a change of scenery, and through a series of mostly hilarious events, ends up doing to the music business what he has already done to Hollywood. On his way, he meets a cast of wild characters, many of whom are vague facsimiles of the more memorable ones from "Get Shorty."
Danny DeVito is back for a quick cameo or two, mostly to provide a prompt chuckle. Rene Russo was unfortunately nowhere to be found, but the new female lead, played by Uma Thurman, does a surprisingly decent job. Travolta and Thurman get down somewhere in the middle of the film in an excessively long dance scene. Does this sound familiar at all? If someone wants to watch the two stars go at it, they could have just popped in a copy of "Pulp Fiction."
However, the many references to other movies are a redeeming quality. A 10-gallon bucket of self-deprecating humor lightens the mood. (If you haven't seen the original, no worries, but you probably won't get all the jokes).
Vince Vaughn plays a hilarious music promoter who is brilliant as a wannabe pimp-daddy. He calls himself Raji even though his birth name is Roger and refers to everyone else with nicknames like J-Dizzle or R-Dog. The Rock portrays Vaughn's flamboyantly gay bodyguard with dreams of stardom. He plays a parody of himself, frolicking around the screen, slapping his ass and bouncing around in his shiny red cowboy boots. The Rock's character makes the movie worth the $10. Cedric the Entertainer doesn't add anything special, but his underling, Andr?© 3000 is a riot as Dabu, a hopelessly inept gun-toting gangster. This is Andr?©'s first major role in a Hollywood movie, and hopefully not his last.
The story follows Chili as he rescues the budding star, Linda Moon (Christina Milian) from the pseudo-pimp Vaughn. Travolta pulls off the chill, tough-guy act with ease, befriending The Rock, who, much like James Gandolfini in the original, waffles between trying to beat him up and asking for auditions. Chili works with Thurman's character, Edie Athens, in getting Moon from the stage of a sketchy dance club into the realm of real stardom. She is stuck in a contract for "The Chicks," where her only gigs consist of Chinese restaurants and strip clubs. There are hiccups involving a missing $300 grand, seedy pawn shops, the Russian mafia, dirty setups, double-crossings, and of course, the obligatory Tarantino-esque everybody-holds-a-gun-to-everyone-else's-head scene.
The storyline isn't the point though; the plot is there to get us from one hilarious moment to the next.
"Be Cool" is a comedy. It does not take an insightful look at American society, or the entertainment business, or even the life of starlets. It's funny, often at the expense of itself and its predecessor. As long as audience members are not expecting another "Get Shorty," they're sure to have a good time.
