Be Cool

Chili Palmer returns in this long-gestating sequel to Get Shorty, and while John Travolta has a new entourage of famous faces including Uma Thurman, Harvey Kietel, Vince Vaughn and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, they don't save the film from being a very lazy and glam-ridden piece that barely dents the intelligence and comic timing of the original. But while the film shows bright sparks in many moments, it ultimately repeats and and rehashes all the things that made the original shine. But we kick off with Chili reminiscing about the days he spent as a movie producer, something he is attempting to get away from. We are introduced to Linda Moon (Christina Milian) who is struggling to break the cuffs of her contract with Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel). But she must deal with Nick's over-zealous 'partner' Raji (Vince Vaughn) and his hilarious homosexual bodyguard Elliot (The Rock) who both unfortunately bumble and trod through the film with ver little to do, much like Kietel. The film introduces so many characters and plots that is becomes jarring and often loses its way to the point where it falls away. It sets up various pop culture remarks, celebrity appearances and a dragging-its-feet plot that never lifts off to anything, making the whole experience quite forgettable. There is still an entertaining element to be had though, in the form The Rock, Cedric the Entertainer and his gang of gangster hip-hop artists, his unorthodox lifestyle compared to his street life provide very exceptional comic relief, along with The Roc who is the simple-minded bodyguard who just wants to be in movies. John Travolta pokes fun at many of his own films and previous work in Get Shorty, but he never quite feels at home in Be Cool, seemingly paving the way for the rest of the cast to make an impression, but sadly a plot that doesn't match the aims of what the film is trying to push down our throats makes these performances almost meaningless. There is fun to be had in Be Cool, but a much cooler thing to do would have been not trying to recreate updated versions of past characters and the film within a film story again, it leaves little to the imagination and not enough room to explore these characters like there was in the first instalment, quite a forgettable effort.