Film Reviews

Be Cool

• Rating:
• Director: F. Gary Grey.
• Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Steven Tyler, Harvey Keitel, the Rock, Danny DeVito.
• Details: US/ 112 mins/ (18s)

Tubby old John Travolta attempts to re-inject some life into his career with this decade late sequel to the wonderfully smart 'n' sassy Get Shorty. Travolta's waistline is the only thing that's expanded in the last ten years as most of the zest, spark, wit and invention of Elmore Leonard's prose has been drained way in this very so-so version. This time around, the shark that is Chilli Palmer (Travolta) decides that the music business is the place to be and he sets about carving a niche out for himself. Inevitably for a man of Chilli's charm, two women quickly catch his eye, a producer (Uma Thurman) and Linda Moon (Christina Milian), a young singer who is tipped to be the next big thing. Of course, since this is a Leonard adaptation, it isn't long before Palmer finds himself up to his neck in shysters, shenanigans and er, singers. While you'd be forgiven for thinking the presence of Uma Thurman might inject some Pulp Fiction-esque devilment back into proceedings, the script of Be Cool falls at the first hurdle. Expecting the stars to come up with the goods rather than supplying them, the screenplay appears all too content to reference its predecessor. Mistaking unnecessary complication for development, Peter Steinfeld's writing is over-populated and frantic, lacking a rhythm and centre. Travolta tries hard to re-capture the cool demeanour that he projected first time around, but he's unable to emulate past glories. Still, the Rock's quite funny and that's something I never thought possible.

Review by Garreth Murphy