Ephemera

I just read the absurd assertion that Be Cool is one of the worst movies ever made.

Hogwash! In the annals of bad movie making Be Cool barely scratches the surface, let alone plumbs the depths. But, I can understand someone being quite disappointed in Be Cool if they really liked Get Shorty and were expecting to see another movie of that caliber. There are a few things you have to realize before going to see a movie like Be Cool to put it in perspective:

Sequels always suck. (Yes – there are a few exceptions to this, but few enough that it still works as a rule of thumb. (And this rule goes double for prequels, but that’s another matter.))

F. Gary Gray is no Barry Sonnenfeld.

Harvey Keitel is no Gene Hackman.

Uma Thurman is no Rene Russo.

Cedric the Entertainer is no Delroy Lindo.

The Rock is no James Gandolfini.

Danny DeVito is, in fact, Danny DeVito. (But he’s barely in Be Cool.)

Robert Pastorelli may, or may not, have been David Paymer, but who cares?

Andre Benjamin, Vince Vaughn, and Christina Milian do not equal Dennis Farina, Miguel Sandoval, and Bette Midler.

And most importantly…

John Travolta is no John Travolta. (That is, he’s well on his way to becoming the John Travolta of Look Who’s Talking again as opposed to John Travolta of Pulp Fiction.)

All this considered, I went in expecting to see a horrible movie. I just wanted to see how bad it really was. I was pleasantly surprised. Bits of the movie were quite enjoyable and none was overly offensive.

Perspective is everthing.