Be Cool

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Be Cool

Directed by	F. Gary Gray
Produced by	Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, David Nicksay
Written by	Peter Seinfeld
Starring	John Travolta Uma Thurman Vince Vaughn Cedric the Entertainer André Benjamin Steven Tyler Robert Pastorelli Christina Milian Harvey Keitel with The Rock and Danny De Vito
Distributed by	MGM Distribution Co.
Release date(s)	March 4, 2005
Running time	115 min.
Language	English
Budget	$53,000,000
IMDb profile

Be Cool is a 2005 movie which was adapted from a 1999 novel. The book was the sequel to the 1990 novel Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard (itself adapted into an acclaimed hit 1995 film) about mobster Chili Palmer's entrance into the music industry.

The film version of Be Cool started production in 2003. It was directed by F. Gary Gray, produced by Danny DeVito (who produced and co-starred in the first film), and starred John Travolta, reprising his role from the first film. The movie opened in March 2005 to generally negative reviews, and was released to video and DVD distribution on June 7, 2005.

1 Synopsis
2 Plot
3 Box office totals
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Chili Palmer helps the widow, Edie, of an executed friend, Tommy Athens, resurrect a record company using the talents of young and talented female vocalist and songwriter, Linda Moon. The plot is complicated by several facts:

Russian Mafia are trying to kill Chili because he witnessed the execution of Athens.
Chili takes Moon despite her contractual obligations to Nick Carr and Raji.
Athens' record company owes money to a gangster-type producer, Sin LaSalle.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Chili Palmer (Travolta), sick of film making, enters the music industry when his friend, Tommy Athens (Woods) and owner of a record company, is executed by a Russian mobster, which Chili witnesses. Chili uses the opportunity to help his friend's widow, Edie Athens (Thurman), manage the failing business, which owes $300,000 to the Hip Hop mogul Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer). Chili enters the music industry on the talents of a female entertainer, Linda Moon (Christina Milian). Moon convinces Chili to take on her cause, getting out of contractual obligations to Nick Carr (Keitel) and Raji (Vaughn), who has a gay bodyguard named Eliott (played by The Rock), an aspiring actor and the butt of Carr and Raji's homophobic jokes. Carr and Raji take exception to Chili's intervention, and hire a hitman, Joe Loop (Robert Pastorelli) to kill Chili. In the meantime, Chili convinces Edie to produce Moon, hoping to resurrect Athens' failing record company through a live performance with Aerosmith and Steven Tyler.

The movie follows the downfall of each of these unscrupulous enemies of Chili. Sin LaSalle begins by threatening Chili and Edie for payment of the US$300,000; but Chili and Edie convince Sin to give them a few days to get the money. When the Russians attempt to kill Chili, Joe Loop mistakenly kills the Russian hitman. Raji then hits the hitman (Joe Loop) out of frustration. Carr angers the Russian mobsters who make an untimely visit to Carr's office while Sin LaSalle is there. Insulted by the Russian mob boss, LaSalle kills him. In the meantime, Raji sends Elliot to kill Chili. However, Chili, in cool fashion, befriends the gay man and tells him that he can help him out with his acting career. When Carr threatens Chili, Chili slyly sends him to the hands of the police. Finally when Raji and Elliot threaten Chili, Chili again befriends Elliot, who turns on Raji in defense of Chili. For all his smooth talking and flamboyant wardrobe, Raji finds himself on the receiving end of fireworks which ends up roasting him live on camera. While on the other end, Carr ends up getting arrested by the police on murder charges.

During all of this befuddling Chili manages to squeeze in a dance scene with Edie (the awaited Travolta-Thurman reunion from Pulp Fiction), and Moon gets her debut with Aerosmith. In the end LaSalle becomes the producer for Moon and Elliot embarks on a successful acting career.

[edit] Box office totals

<tr><th>United States: </th> <td>PG-13</td></tr>

Ratings

Production Budget: $53,000,000
Est. Marketing Costs: N/A (based on number of theatres that released it possibly between 20 and 30 million dollars)
Domestic: $56,046,979 (58.8%)
Overseas: $39,169,077 (41.2%)
Worldwide: $95,216,056

[edit] Trivia

Bestselling author Dan Brown and his wife Blythe have a brief appearance in the movie, in the front row of the audience during the Aerosmith concert.
The character played by Cedric the Entertainer, Sin LaSalle, is seen by many as a parody of either Suge Knight or Sean Combs.
Similar to the "Cadillac of minivans" remark about the Oldsmobile Silhouette in Get Shorty, the Honda Insight is referred to as the "Cadillac of gas-electric Hybrids.
The Rock does his famous "People's Eyebrow". One of the talents that made him famous in the WWE.

The entire song "You ain't woman enough to take my man" is available on the Special Features section on the DVD.

The book is dedicated to the Stone Coyotes who inspired Elmore to write about committed and truly talented songwriters. Lyrics used in the book are written by the Stone Coyotes.

Steven Tyler says the song Sweet Emotion was about his daughters, but they weren't born until after the song was recorded.

Sin's monologue, in the scene when Sin confronts Nick when Sin believes Nick has his 300,000 dollars and the leader of the Russian Mafiav calls him a nigger, was not in the book or original script. F. Gary Gray wanted the Sin character to be liked but wants him to be serious as well.

At the beginning of the movie, Chili says that a movie can only use the "F" word once to avoid an "R" rating. Chili thinks poorly of this policy, saying "Fuck that". This is the only use of the "F" word in this PG-13–rated film.