MOVIE REVIEW: Be Cool
Usually when I hear an ensemble A-list cast of such caliber that will be bunched together for two-hours in a movie, I hope and pray that it will be a good one; Not for the sake of my 10 bucks or two-hours, but for the sake of these actors' careers. In the case of 'Be Cool,' everything went to squander, and I was left saddened by these A-listers' credibility (I don't know why I care so much, either).
In the beginning of the 'Be Cool,' John Travolta (a.k.a Chili Palmer) and a music executive played by James Woods, are driving in a car talking about movie sequels and how most aren't any good. If you disregarded the fact that this was a shot-by-shot carbon copy of the classic car scene in 'Pulp Fiction,' and listen to the dialogue, you can't help but ponder whether this is 1) an attempt to get the audience laughing at the sheer irony of two people talking about sequels within a sequel or 2) a disclaimer to the audience that this movie is going to suck (and in case you were wondering, it is the latter).
The cool and slick Chili Palmer from the first installment 'Get Shorty' is revived to play a mobster-gone-music business exec. He steals (or saves, if you're an optimist) a young hot singer (Christina Milian) from her pimped-out Jewish manager (Vince Vaughn), and turns her into a singing sensation. Of course, a movie about an ex-mobster can never be complete without havoc and chaos; this time Russian mobsters -- played by American actors who cannot act Russian if my entire family hit them upside the head with their Russian bare hands -- are the ones to ensue the havoc and chaos.
As a Russian, I wasn't so much offended by the way this film portrayed Russians, but instead, I was more offended by the stereotypical dialogue that any other respectable writer would never be caught writing. This film tried so hard to get laughs that all it got were crickets chirping away in dead-silence (wait, do crickets chirp?), because of how awkward and forced everything was. It turned potentially good lines into redundancy; the Russian, black and gay jokes were all the same one just replaced with the appropriate race, sexual orientation, and nationality to fit the stereotype.
What lacked in this film that didn't in 'Get Shorty' was Chili's hot and spicy attitude. He's a completely different person in this sequel. For one thing, the old Chili would’ve had more dialogue. John Travolta has, at the most, 20 speaking lines in 'Be Cool,' due to the out-staging of the repetitive lines, and the hundred-and-one cameo appearances by the most random celebrities. I won't ruin the shock factor by revealing all of the cameos for those who actually plan to see this movie (PLEASE DON'T!!!), but I will say that it will forever amaze me that these people agreed to be in a film of such inanity.
What was even more stupid was the very lame dance sequence with Travolta and Uma Thurman (she plays the widower of James Woods who LUCKILY gets killed in the first ten minutes of the movie). Tarrantino never made 'Pulp Fiction' for an idiot like the director of 'Be Cool' to butcher. They (whoever 'they' are) say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but this imitation was the most sincere form of awkward ridicule.
'Be Cool' was a gigantic question mark for me; there were so many plot holes that I left the theater asking myself "WHY?!" about almost everything. If there was a point to anything in the film, I did not get the memo. I left the movie theater completely baffled, and with only a few things learned from this experience: everyone in L.A. has a sidekick, drinks Diet Coke, drives a Hybrid car, and takes Trimspa. I'm sure there are more products, but after the fifth product placement I lost track.
Plot holes, unbelievable dialogue, too many random cameos, horrible acting (even by the pros), and a not-so-entertaining attempt to mimic 'Pulp Fiction,' makes this film the worst movie of 2005, and it's only the third month of the year.
