?Be Cool? is the sequel to ?Get Shorty? which I happened to think was one of the worst films I had seen at that point in time. So much so, that I remember absolutely nothing about it. It was ten years ago though, so it has taken a while for them to revisit the antics of Chili Palmer. In that time, poor Rene Russo who appeared in the first instalment as his girlfriend has disappeared off the Hollywood radar and has been replaced as the leading lady in the sequel by John Travolta?s favourite dancing partner, Uma Thurman.

The film revolves around Chili Palmer (Travolta), a loan shark/gangster turned movie mogul who is bored of Hollywood. Tommy Athens (James Woods) is talking to Chili about the music industry and wanting Chili to make a movie about it, well him more specifically. He tells him about this singer, Linda Moon (Milian) and his plans for her. When Chili leaves the table to go to the little boy?s room, poor Tommy is shot by a member of the Russian Mafia wearing a rather bad toupee. Chili then decides to enter the music industry and teams up with Tommy?s widow Edie (Thurman), in more ways than one if you get my drift, to try to make Ms. Moon a star.

The film has a large cast and many sub plots so I don?t want to give too much away so all I will say is if Chili is to be successful he must find a way to get Linda out of a contract she has with Nick Carr (Keitel), avoid the Russians and the other hit men that have been sent to kill him and find a way to get Linda?s music to the masses when Edie?s record label NTL is in debt $300,000 to rival music producer Sin LaBelle (Cedric the Entertainer). Then you can throw the antics of Raji (Vaughn), Linda?s manager, who works with Nick at Carosell records, and his gay bodyguard Elliot (The Rock) into the mix. Elliot may be a body guard but his real dream is to be an actor and wants Chili to help him make it in the movie business.

While I was watching the film I wondered how they would pull all these little stories together and they somehow managed to do just that. The film did appear to be a lot of comedy skits just strung together to make a movie which is certainly not ideal, but it was entertainment nonetheless. The much anticipated dance number between John and Uma at a Black Eyed Peas concert was disappointing though and was not a patch on the ?Pulp Fiction? scene they tried to reprise. The song was not as catchy and the dance was not as fun. Still, they did manage to include a cameo from one of the biggest dance acts going around at the moment.

The film also contained cameos from Danny De Vito who played Martin Weir in the original film and Anna Nicole Smith who ?pashes? him at a LA Lakers basketball game. Quite a stretch for Ms. Smith I would imagine. Andre Benjamin from Outkast also plays a minor role in the film as one of Sin?s gangsta rappers Dabu and performed admirably. Steven Tyler from Aerosmith plays himself in ?Be Cool? and if I was him I would instantly sack both my acting coach and plastic surgeon. Just grotesque.

After not enjoying the original, my expectations were not very high when I began watching this film and as a result I got quite a pleasant surprise when it was over. I actually enjoyed it and had a giggle at the antics of many of the main actors. I must admit that it took me two attempts to watch the film though as I was falling asleep during the first showing. That?s a warning for you, don?t watch it late at night as you may not make it to the final credits which I thought were cute with most of the cast attempting to dance, with a big emphasis on attempting, that is.

Vince Vaughn was the real star of this Hollywood vehicle in my humble opinion. He was just hilarious as Raji. He dressed like a pimp and spoke like he was a ?black rapper? and the stuff that came out of his mouth was just classic. I have to admit too that I have a big soft spot for Mr. Travolta and he didn?t disappoint me this time around, unlike Uma. The Rock had many comical moments as well and was hardly recognisable in his big black afro. But, what a body, particularly when he wears those tight pale blue pants!!! His monologue from ?Bring It On? as well as the video clip for his country song ?You Ain?t Woman Enough To Take My Man? were highlights and I wouldn?t be surprised to see him in more comedic roles.

Finally, many fans of the original may be disappointed with the long awaited sequel. If you ignore that it is a sequel and judge it on its own merits you will see a film that is flawed in many ways like: it is too long, the plot it all over the place, the characters are too stereotypical and the gags are too obvious, but you will also see 100 minutes of pure Hollywood fluff that should entertain you at the same time. It is not a film that I will watch again and again but I am glad I got to see it at least once.

THE EXTRAS

This 2 disc edition of ?Be Cool? has a disc full of extras. They are:
? ?Be Cool, Very Cool? The Making-of Documentary. A standard documentary where we hear from all the main actors plus the main behind the scene players. It runs for 20 minutes. There is nothing too exciting here. I did learn that the director used to direct music videos and so he knew a little about the industry.
? Gag Reel This runs between 6 and 7 minutes and is your standard gag reel where actors stuff up their lines or something?s funny and they laugh etc. This one though, unlike so many others, managed to make be giggle too.
? Deleted Scenes There are 14 deleted scenes in total to peruse here. Some are extended scenes or alternate scenes. They are all reasonably short and run for only 15 minutes in total. Worth a look again, they were probably only removed to shorten the film because some of them are quite good, particularly Derek?s comeback scenes where he is trying to give a comeback line to Chili who dumped him in a swimming pool.
? Close Ups There are 5 Featurettes including Close-Ups on the Dance Partners (Uma and John), The Rock, Andre 3000, Cedric the Entertainer and Christina Milian. They give a little insight into the various actors and are worth a look. The director F. Gary Gray gives his opinion of each of them as well. They run for just under 25 minutes in total.
? Music Video: The Rock as Elliott Wilhelm ?You Ain?t Woman Enough to Take My Man? The director tells us before the clip starts that this video clip contains everything you shouldn?t put into a music clip so you pretty much know what you are in for, crappola that is meant to be funny and it works cos? the clip is a scream. Well worth a look.
? Theatrical Trailer This runs for just over two minutes and pretty much has all the film?s best bits in it.
Some people may be disappointed as there is no audio commentary included on this DVD.

CONCLUSION

Chili Palmer (John Travolta) is back in the sequel to ?Get Shorty?. This time though he sets his sights on the music industry and his main aim is to make a star out of singing sensation Linda Moon (Christina Milian). Chili teams up with recently widowed Edie Athens (Uma Thurman) in an attempt to do just that. However, things don?t always go to plan and standing in his way are the Russian Mafia, Sin (Cedric The Entertainer) a rival record producer and Raji (Vince Vaughn) and Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) who currently have Linda under contract. Can Chili avoid the hitmen long enough to make Ms. Moon a household name? The film also features Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Andre Benjamin from OutKast and The Rock in smaller roles. The film?s plot certainly has its flaws but still manages to deliver an entertaining end product.