Be Cool review

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Be cool? Come on... Give us a break. For most of its vast length, this overblown Get Shorty follow-up barely even manages to reach lukewarm.

It all starts so promisingly, too. For the first 15 minutes everything's heading in the right direction - Travolta looks born for Chili's butter-soft black suit, the segue to the music biz is slick and the dialogue is quotably delicious ("If you don't want to get an 'R' rating you can only use the 'F' word once," drawls Chili, as he explains just what he hates about the movie industry. "You know what I say? Fuck that!").

But then the wheels come spinning off. The core idea - that Chili decides to help singer Linda Moon escape from crooked manager Raji (Vince Vaughn) - is solid, but the story execution reeks of aimless, clichéd self-indulgence.

As Ocean's Twelve proved, sometimes more famous faces make for less of a movie. As the character count rises - Harvey Keitel's promoter; The Rock's gay failed actor; Robert Pastorelli's hired killer; Cedric The Entertainer's gangsta rap leader; Uma Thurman's sexy record-label owner - the story quality plummets. A big-name director might have had the clout to insist that, no, we weren't going to waste time watching The Rock trying on boots or Vince Vaughn (playing a smalltime `tough guy') preening up his ghetto fabulous look. Not F Gary Gray, though. Seemingly starstruck by the big names, the Italian Job director lets his cast do whatever the hell they like. The result is a movie that doesn't so much have a narrative arc as a lazy, time-consuming squiggle.

But annoying though that is, it's not even the worst thing about Be Cool. No, that's the fact that no-one involved has the slightest idea of just what `cool' is. Travolta's understated hardass starts with the look of Pulp Fiction's Vincent Vega, but by the finish he's become little more than Forrest Gump with a left hook. Everyone blares on about how great Linda Moon's singing is, but audiences will immediately ID her as just another placid Norah Jones clone the first moment she opens her mouth.

Be Cool's rappers are about a decade out of date but they're bang on the pulse compared to its OAP rockers. When Chili decides that pairing Linda with (wait for it) Steven Tyler and Aerosmith will rocket her to the big time, anyone who's bought a CD in the last decade will be reaching for their coats.

God preserve us from a third film. It'll probably have Chili breaking into the videogame industry by reviving Pac-Man or trying to make it as a sports agent by promoting a big-budget croquet match. This is a franchise that needs whacking - right here, right now.

A by-the-numbers sequel that doesn't even have the energy to be dreadful. In fact, just the sort of film that the Chili Palmer of Get Shorty hated.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Latest in Comedy Movies
John Cena in Barbie
John Cena comedy Coyote Vs. Acme might come out after all, over a year after it was controversially shelved
Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2
29 years later, Happy Gilmore 2 trailer sees Adam Sandler return to the course with familiar faces – and confirms release date
Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, and Michael Cera in Superbad
Seth Rogen says Sony wouldn't let Jonah Hill use a PlayStation in Superbad as his character was too "reprehensible": "They're like, 'We can't have him interact with our products'"
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in Freakier Friday
Freaky Friday 2 trailer promises more body-swap hilarity from Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in long-awaited sequel
Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice 2 star Jenna Ortega would love to star in another classic horror comedy franchise: Gremlins
This is Spinal Tap
First Spinal Tap 2 teaser reveals release date for comedy sequel that’s over 40 years in the making
Latest in Reviews
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard with purple RGB lighting on a desk setup
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: "a niche luxury"
A woman chasing a shining butterfly with a leaping cat on her shoulder in InZOI
inZOI review: "Currently feels like a soulless imitation of the worst parts of The Sims"
White Razer Basilisk V3 Pro 35K gaming mouse standing up against a green-lit setup
Razer Basilisk V3 Pro 35K review: "hampered by its predecessor"