A View at the Movies: Be Cool

I saw Be Cool at the local $2.50 theater. Yeah, it's been out a minute, build a bridge and get over it. The movie opens and we find Chili Palmer (John Travolta) getting frustrated with the movie business that he muscled his way into in Get Shorty. The movie Get Leo (their version of Get Shorty) has inspired a sequel, Get Lost. This leads to a funny and interesting exchange between Chili Palmer and James Woods about the failure of sequels. James Woods' character has a small record label and is trying to get a movie made starring this top artist, Rachel Moon (Christina Milian). At their movie meeting, a Russian assassinates Woods' character and Chili sees him. Eventually, this situation leads to Chili taking Rachel from the people at Carousel Records. Her manager is Raji, a "Black"-talking white guy (Vince Vaughn), who has a gay bodyguard (The Rock) that's also an aspiring actor. The main man at Carousel (Harvey Keitel), also owes money to a corrupt producer and manager (Cedric the Entertaner). Cedric the Entertainer's character manages the Dub MDS (Weapons of Mass Destruction), a goup of gun-toting hoodlums/rappers which includes his cousin Dabu (Andre 3000). What follows are a series of double crosses and shootings as Chili tries to get Rachel free from Carousel records and sign her to NTL records now headed by James Woods' widow (Uma Thurman).
Honestly, the movie doesn't measure up to the original. As a matter of fact, Chili and Danny Devito's character are the only people from the orignal that show up. The running gag of people breaking into other people's houses and alerting them by turning the TV or radio on from the first movie continues here. Honestly, it gets annoying. One of the few saving graces was Cedric the Entertainer's character who projects a street exterior but is also an MBA, has a loving family, and is on the negihborhood watch. The scene of him and the Dub MDs trying to threaten a radio exec in front of his house while trying to hide if from his daughter was cute. There is also a cool finale at the MTV Video Music Awards where Wyclef and Fred Durst make cameos. There is also a cool scene where Milian duets with Steven Tyler at an Aerosmith concert. The movie has flaws, and it doesn't measure up to the original, but it is an okay movie. There are some funny moments. I give Be Cool 2.5 mics, in honor of the music business. Be easy.