Be Cool

In this sequel to 1995’s Get Shorty, hoodlum turned movie producer Chili Palmer (John Travolta) gets into the music business, helping a friend (Uma Thurman) against a hip-hop loan shark (Cedric the Entertainer) while saving a rising young singer (Christina Milian) from her sleazeball managers (Harvey Keitel and Vince Vaughn). Director F. Gary Gray has trouble juggling all the characters and plot threads in Peter Steinfeld’s script (from the Elmore Leonard novel), and the movie sags from time to time. Still, it coasts nicely on Travolta and Thurman’s stellar rapport and some amusing supporting performances—especially Vaughn’s wannabe-black hustler and a hilarious turn by The Rock as a gay bodyguard who wants to be a movie star. James Woods, Danny DeVito, Steven Tyler and others pop up in cameos.