Be Cool *1/2

Be Cool Official Site
The movie starts with a self referential joke about sequels, and after a few minutes you'll wish the filmmakers followed Chili Palmer's advice -- don't do sequels. To be fair, the book the movie is based on was itself a cash-in for author Elmore Leonard, who penned the sequel after the success of the film adapatation of Get Shorty. While the novel was entertaining, the film directed by F Gary Gray (Friday, The Italian Job) falls flat. The same jokes are recycled, the wonderfully groovey theme by Greyboy All Stars is replaced by a weak or at times non-existent score, and the pace just seems to drag amidst lackluster dialogue. The only saving grace is Vince Vaughan as b-boy spoof Raji who is good for a few laughs among all the tired hip hop cliches. Uma Thurman and Christinia Milian light up the screen, but their characters are little more than window dressing. While Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty hit all the right notes when it came to the movie biz, Be Cool's take on the music industry is tone deaf.