Be Cool DVD Review:

“Be Cool” DVD Review: I Wish it Would Get Shorter

Movies that shine an insider’s light on the mechanisms and dirty laundry of show business have long been popular in Hollywood. This genre has continued to pick up steam in recent years with the Quentin Tarantino-led perverse fascination with the seamy underside of society. Certainly the public is endlessly intrigued by what celebrities do on and off set. The only problem is that when you’re dealing with insiders writing about inside situations, many times the intended satire flies over the audience’s head. Films like “The Player” and recently “The Last Shot” were bombs. However, the Tarantino inspired “Get Shorty” put together the then red hot John Travolta, a great cast and clever writing and scored a solid hit. A decade later, Travolta returns to reprise gangster turned movie mogul Chili Palmer in “Be Cool,” this time with his sights on the music industry.

“Get Shorty” I found to be a fun little movie, if not epic cinema. However, if that was Tarantino light, the very loosely connected “Be Cool” is Tarantino Disney style. The feeling constantly creeps up that one is watching a saccharine family movie of the week. This is because the story centers around Disney alum and singer Christina Milian, and her struggle to become a pop star. There are numerous scenes of appallingly sappy melodrama in which Chili and partner Edie (Uma Thurman) ply her with syrupy praise and “inspiring” words. One can’t be faulted for wondering if the film’s target audience is really Milian’s ten-year-old fans. Who obviously would be very interested in healthy amounts of menacing gangsters, profanity, and violent killings. Or not. The whole thing’s a mess really.

As we begin shady record label owner Tommy Athens (James Woods) meets his eminently suave friend Chili at a café to pitch a movie about his dancer mistress Linda Moon (Milian). Suddenly a Russian mobster shoots Tommy dead and drives off. Chili goes to meet the young, innocent Linda at her sleazy club, where her singing impresses him. She’s desperate to get out of her contract, and Chili, tiring of the movie business, thinks she might have a future in music. He walks her out over the protests of her abusive, racially confused boss Raji (Vince Vaughn), and turns aside Raji’s hulking gay bodyguard and aspiring actor Elliot (The Rock) with the promise of an audition. Raji’s cunning boss and music promoter Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) is convinced Linda has star potential and advises him to employ a hitman to resolve the Chili problem. Elsewhere sophisticated but violent Dub MD gangsta rap group manager Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer) is vexed that Tommy died owing him a large sum of money, and is determined to get satisfaction. Chili has Linda audition for Tommy’s attractive widow Edie, who is quickly won over and agrees to produce her. Together Chili and Edie try to launch Linda’s career while a free-for-all of double-crosses and murders over her contract unfolds between Raji, Nick, Sin, and the Russians.

Racial issues pop up several times in the script, never more obviously than when Sin gets up on a soapbox to deliver a speech on the evils of prejudice and the value of cultural diversity in response to the use of the n word. An excellent if rather strongly stated message to be sure, but surprisingly the rest of the film fails to heed it. In the very same scene Sin makes several culturally insensitive remarks about Russians, even killing one after giving his spiel about tolerance. Later he dismisses Linda’s producer as having limited ability because he is white. There is also a scene where I believe the audience is being invited to laugh at Asian singers because of their accented delivery of “Lady Marmalade.” Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to attempts at racial commentary in silly comedies, but since director F. Gary Gray says he thinks Sin’s speech is an important statement, it’s odd that he creates such a mixed message.

Also questionable is the film’s understanding of the music industry. Not that I can claim to be an expert, but the unrelenting worship of Linda’s talent by everyone around her is rather curious. It seems that Milian is a successful singer in real life, but from what we see of Linda there is little to suggest she’s more than a strong American Idol contender, most of which never get anywhere in the business. Stranger still is Chili and Edie’s intense excitement over their dubious idea to promote Linda by having her sing a duet at an Aerosmith concert. Even assuming an Aerosmith crowd would have any interest in an R&B singer, it’s only one song and it isn’t even hers. Many opening bands in the exact same genre as the famous headliners play entire tours with little or no boost to their careers.

One would think that with so many big name actors on hand, you’d get some great comedic performances. This turns out not to be the case, as nearly the entire cast turns in flat or glib characters. Travolta is supposed to be the very embodiment of cool, but this translates into him being rather lifeless. Milian and Thurman both seem straight out of a Disney movie, the former bland and the latter giddily hammy. Keitel isn’t given much to work worth, and Vaughn puts forth a valiant effort but ultimately is a pale imitation of Gary Oldman’s excellent portrayal of an identical character in “True Romance.” One can sense Cedric is on the verge of doing something funny, but like the others the tedious script reins him in. The only bright spots on the cast are the bit players. Woods opens the movie with a bang as another of his trademark jumpy slimeballs, so the script promptly kills him off. As Sin’s enforcer Andre 3000 shows impressive comic potential in his first high profile role, playing Laurel to Cedric’s Hardy. The Rock’s much ballyhooed gay role sounds funnier than it is, but he still has a blast mugging for the camera in ridiculous outfits.

Sadly, for all that talent, the film is conspicuously laugh-free. I smiled a few times, but that’s not much for two full hours. The Rock’s goofy headshots are mildly amusing, one of him as Rambo and another playing badminton. He peaks with his gloriously camp rendition of country oldie “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take my Man.” Also notable is Andre inadvertently firing off shots at inopportune times (“Don’t give me no gun then. You know what I’m gonna do.”), and Vaughn impotently demanding respect from a man after killing him.

The soundtrack contains a large number of R&B and hip-hop songs, both old and new. Unfortunately for Milian, her two songs don’t really stand out from the pack. They’re decent modern pop fare, but hardly memorable. “I’m a Believer” is more than a little trite, which the film even pokes fun at in a deleted scene. As much as I like Aerosmith, the film stops dead to gratuitously present Linda’s duet in its entirety. I guess the director’s a fan.

There’s a decent quantity of special features, but none of them are very engaging. The “making of” documentary is a promotional fluff piece in which the cast explains their characters and gush over how great everyone is. One producer crows over his brilliant plan to make the tiresomely dull Linda the focus of the movie. The deleted scenes are just as boring as the film, but the gag reel contains a laugh or two. In one bit the classic Thunderbird Chili and Edie are driving repeatedly stalls, stranding them in traffic. The full version of The Rock’s country music video is included, but although my hat’s off to his performance this is one of those cases where less is more. Finally there are featurettes supporting this axiom on the characters played by The Rock, Andre, Cedric, and Milian, and one in which the entire production staff endlessly praises Travolta’s godlike dancing ability. I suppose that explains his tedious dance scene in the film.

“Get Shorty” fans beware. “Be Cool” is only vaguely similar to that film, and without any humor or intrigue. This one’s only of interest to owners of Milian’s complete catalog, providing their parents will let them watch. Instead dust off your copy of “Get Shorty,” or better yet “Pulp Fiction.” I only wish Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield had been present on the set for this turkey. It’s amazing how quickly actors find their motivation when someone with a large handgun threatens to “get medieval.”



Chris Wood