An early review has come in for the "Get Shorty" sequel and here's a glimmer:

"Be Cool" - A Review by 'Z'

Down in the LBC I get offered passes for a lot of test screenings that I tend to shine, but I was excited when they said the movie was BE COOL, which they showed this past Monday. I haven't seen any reviews on your site so I thought I'd take a shot. First, let me say I am a HUGE fan of GET SHORTY and I remember being psyched about a sequel a while ago. It seems like a long time has passed since then so I didn't have my hopes up too much, but I'm happy to report that BE COOL did not disappoint.

John Travolta has returned exactly the Chili Palmer from GET SHORTY, and it's great to see him in something decent again after the career devastation that was BATTLEFIELD EARTH.  And, in a supreme casting decision, he is reunited with hott mama Uma Thurman, who is still in KILL BILL shape.  Their dialogue is awesome and when they danced together, everybody in the audience I was with went crazy.  It was definitely a nod to PULP FICTION but didn't seem forced at all. 

The ensemble in this movie is perfect: Vince Vaughn is hilarious. The Rock is all pimped out as a gay Samoan bodyguard. Totally cool. Andre 3000 from OutKast shows some acting chops as a killer who doesn't really have control over his motor functions (he's a little trigger happy). And real life singer Christina Milian runs around half naked as a sexxy wannabe music star. So, that's the cast.

The movie is all about how Chili Palmer has been spit out of the movie industry and now gets sucked into the music industry, with the usual level of sharks and wannabes. He tangles with a lot of seedy, violent characters and one super talented one (Christina). Basically, as he tries to do something good for somebody and be a music industry playa, he ends up with the Russian mafia and some gangsta thugs on his back, while trying to get some deals together and stay alive. It also has a lot of twists and turns, and it was so fun to watch I'd hate to spoil it too much for people who are looking forward to it. 

On the downside, it could definitely be shorter and there were points in the middle where the story dragged a bit. The music was awesome and the dialogue between Chili and the scumbags he's got to deal with was fast and funny as hell.  With some cuts it could be one of the best movies I've seen this year. There are in-jokes galore, like in GET SHORTY, and like I said, really surprising acting from the cool cast.  F. Gary Gray of THE ITALIAN JOB, did a great job with this one.  It's a big movie, with a lot of flash and great editing.  What I liked best about it was that it kept the tone of GET SHORTY but in the more cutthroat side of the music industry.