Be Cool

Rating:
Summary: CHILI'S THE COOLEST OF ALL !
Review:
Chili Palmer's back, and oh, how we missed him! "Get Shorty" is one of my favorites by Elmore Leonard, he of the darkly dynamic prose. It was full of the author's trademark black comedy and devilish doings - so is "Be Cool."

Actor/Director Campbell Scott must have had a high old time reading this story as he inhabits all the voices with glib authority, whether it be a gangsta' or the redoubtable Chili himself.

"Be Cool" finds Chili down on his luck - his recent flick was box office poison and he's eager to find fame in filmdom again. As it happens, he's doing lunch with Tommy Athens, a record company bigwig and longtime bud. Dessert has to be skipped because Tommy's gunned down in what appears to be a mob inspired killing. Presto - Chili's convinced a movie about the music business could be his next big one.

Always one to seize an opportunity Chili ingratiates himself with the Los Angeles police officer in charge of investigating the case. Soon, Chili is seeing every development has another chapter in his movie scenario.

Of course, there's a love interest - name of Linda Moon, a little yellow rose from Texas. Her manager doesn't cotton to Chili nor do a few other murderous types. Nonetheless, as the title says, be cool, and Chili is the coolest of all.

- Gail Cooke


Rating:
Summary: picks up where get shorty leaves off
Review: Be cool fallows our favorite Hollywood loan-shark as he continues with his hollywood career. Be Cool is a really faced paced and captivating. It's definetely something to read if you like get shorty.

Rating:
Summary: The return of Chili Palmer...
Review: Be Cool is Elmore Leonard's sequel to Get Shorty, and is, as are all of Leonard's books, entertaining and easy to read.

Chili Palmer has made one blockbuster and one bomb. He's looking for a new movie idea when a former mob friend-turned music executive gets shot as the two are eating lunch in Hollywood. The ensuing action takes Chili into the music industry and all the drama, ego, and jealousy that exists within, all in search of a new script. Palmer takes on the management of an up-and-coming singer, upsetting her former manager, who spends most of the book trying to figure out how to kill Chili. Along the way, Chili has to deal with gangsta rappers, russian mobsters, a mafia hit man, a gay samoan bodyguard, and a budding diva or two.

This book was not as good as Get Shorty, but is still a lot of fun to read. Leonard sticks to his formula here, shady good guys and nasty bad guys, all of whom are odd and entertaining characters. Leonard has a gift for writing interesting people and great dialogue, and this book is full of both.

Rating:
Summary: The return of Chili Palmer...
Review: Be Cool is Elmore Leonard's sequel to Get Shorty, and is, as are all of Leonard's books, entertaining and easy to read.

Chili Palmer has made one blockbuster and one bomb. He's looking for a new movie idea when a former mob friend-turned music executive gets shot as the two are eating lunch in Hollywood. The ensuing action takes Chili into the music industry and all the drama, ego, and jealousy that exists within, all in search of a new script. Palmer takes on the management of an up-and-coming singer, upsetting her former manager, who spends most of the book trying to figure out how to kill Chili. Along the way, Chili has to deal with gangsta rappers, russian mobsters, a mafia hit man, a gay samoan bodyguard, and a budding diva or two.

This book was not as good as Get Shorty, but is still a lot of fun to read. Leonard sticks to his formula here, shady good guys and nasty bad guys, all of whom are odd and entertaining characters. Leonard has a gift for writing interesting people and great dialogue, and this book is full of both.

Rating:
Summary: A Sequel that's as Good as the Original
Review: Chili Palmer is a former loan shark who has now relocated to Hollywood and is a player in the movie business, because he'd been successful with his first movie, "Get Leo," but the sequel tanked. He's trolling for new ideas with former crime associate, Tommy Athens, when Athens is murdered in cold blood - a mob hit, apparently. Chili has seen the killer and is very likely next on his list.

When he gets home he finds a man shot to death in his apartment, he realizes that both the dead man and the murderer were there to get him. The second hit man shot the first thinking he was Chili.

Much of the enjoyment in this story is the way Leonard uses events in Chili's life to give his hero material for his screenplay. The characters function both as themselves and actors in the film. Fiction within fiction.

And some of them are very funny: A black record producer who wants respect; a gigantic gay black bodyguard, who says he's Samoan; a bunch of Russian Mafia types and a streetwise collection of gangsta rappers known as Ropa Dope. From this rough material, Chilli must put together the movie that will save his career.

It's been said before and I'll say it again. Elmore Leonard is a genius. He can do no wrong. Like GET SHORTY, BE COOL is a keeper, a book you'll want to read again and again.

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly as good as the first
Review: Elmore Leonard is a great American writer. His books, such as Mr. Majestyk, Rum Punch and Get Shorty are teriffic novels, fun to read. This one was a let down, even though it has the same characters from Get Shorty.

My biggest problem (but not my only one) was that Chili Palmer isn't nearly as tough as he was in the first. In Get Shorty, Palmer would tell people what they were going to do, and his voice had an edge that held you. In this one, he uses the same concept, but it's weaker here. I also missed Chili hitting people, like he did in the first book. It took away a lot of his character, like he was becoming a Hollywood nice guy.

Another problem was the lack of witty dialogue, a Leonard trademark. Get Shorty was full of it, my favorite line being "I'll make you a deal. If you can leave before I take my jacket off, I won't mop the floor with you." This book was much weaker on dialogue.

The only reason that this book gets two stars instead of one is the characters, another Leonard trademark. The characters (except for Chili, as I previously mentioned), are great, interesting people. Like real life, all of these characters have their own ticks, their own personal likes and dislikes, something that stands out.

Don't bother reading this one, just re-read Get Shorty again.

Rating:
Summary: Falls Flat of Its Potential
Review: Elmore Leonard is one of the more respected of popular contemporary authors, and deservingly so. He has a wonderful ear for dialogue and the impressive ability to both generate plot and develop characters through it. What many authors may describe in several paragraphs or pages, Leonard does in a few lines of dialogue. As such, his books are tremendously quick and enjoyable reads. However, 'Be Cool' is not one of his best.

The concept is interesting enough: a sequel. And not just that, but a sort of metafictional work poking fun at the whole idea of sequels. Chili Palmer returns, trying to get his foot in the door of the music industry. As always, the protagonist is surrounded by an odd assortment of hitmen, cons, and scattered goofballs. However, when reading 'Be Cool' I couldn't shake the feeling that the book was rushed. Many of the character (the cop, the gangsta rapper) are scarcely developed at all (the latter, in particular, could have been a rich source of satire). Also, the ending seemed rushed, as well. Leonard seemed to be racing towards it without building up much tension. The reader reaches the last page and wonders what was the point of the second half of the book. I'd always recommend Elmore Leonard as a quick, enjoyable, "beach" read. However, go with something else of his instead of 'Be Cool.'

Rating:
Summary: Chili Palmer is back
Review: I've read a lot of Leonard's previous novels and this is the first sequel I am aware of. At first, I had a sense that Be Cool was written just so there could be a second movie starring Travolta, but as I read, the familiar dialogue and character development which is typically Elmore Leonard emerged. I have always learned a lot from Leonard's books, and this time is no exception - the music industry is there, warts and all. I wouldn't want Leonard to do it very often, but for once it was fun to read about a character I already knew pretty well, both from the earlier book and the movie. I couldn't help trying to cast the movie as I read, which made it even more fun. How about Don Cheadle as Raji? (I think Samuel Jackson is a little too old.) How about Ving Rhames as Elliot? He's such a good actor, he could play a Samoan. You gotta get Steve Zahn in there. (I guess you can tell that Out of Sight is one of my all-time favorite movies!) Anyway, some of the reviews above seem a little tough to me - maybe someone is taking himself or herself a little too seriously. If you want to read a clever, funny book in the Leonard tradition, grab a couple of beers and Be Cool.

Rating:
Summary: Waiting for the movie (On video)
Review: This book is not the standard E. Leonard novel, relative to its level of violence (not much, yea!!). It is full of humor and as usual he paints a great literary picture. I would love to see what a screen writer could do with this Leonard book but the right character actors are required. Without the right actors I'd still watch just for the thrill of humanizing Chil and Elliot, but that would be a video rental. The title is exactly the theme and with a name like Chili, the main character that is "cool" and hot at the same time. Really good read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book! And I'm not a Get Shorty Fan...
Review: This book was loads of fun. Further, this was the first time I found significant value-added from reading the audio CD version of a book.
I read this with little/no baggage coming from familiarity with Leonard's earlier "Get Shorty," of which this is a sequel. This book stands very well on its own and Leonard got me up to speed nicely. Indeed, someone familiar with Get Shorty will definitely enjoy this book more, with allusions and inside jokes referring to the previous book that I'm sure I missed.
The story was just LOTS of fun, and it actually offered a view into how Leonard develops his books through Chili's discussion on how he develops movies. And if you get the audio CD version, you get to hear an interview with Elmore Leonard where he talks about his writing process. (If you're an aspiring fiction reader, this is a must!)
The book is great but very compact. Chili and Linda are fun characters, but all of Leonard's characters are great. The exposure of the music business was eye-opening, and you may not look at the Big Music Industry the same again.
Additionally, the audio version includes the track "Odessa" which was written for the book by the band The Stone Coyotes. Hearing it at the end of the book was awesome, and the song is really good too! The only downside to the audio CD version is having to listen to the narrator, Ron McLarty, try to sing the lyrics from the book. It was absolutely awful. I turned down my radio until the storm passed. Yikes. If you can't sing...DON'T!
After completing this book, I saw that the movie version is in the wrap phase. I laughed when I saw that The Rock is cast as the gay Samoan bodyguard, because in the book, Leonard drops a big hint that he had The Rock in mind to play the part! I really look forward to hearing more about the movie...based on the cast listed on imdb.com, it is a promising project.