Rating: 
Summary: Entertainingly COOL "CHIL"
Review: This was a great book! If you are expecting the same Chili, you might be disappointed. Many people think that just because he is Chili, the same charactor is going to be in this book. This is a totally different Chili. He has been in Hollywood now for many years. He knows what he is supposed to do to get things done. He can't just fool around and expect things to fall into place. People know him now and the women in his life have made him soft -- that doesn't mean he isn't still cool as hell. The thing I liked best about this book was that he made things happen. That's totally different from the GET SHORTY. In SHORTY things kept happening to him. Like in this one he sets up everything so that he will have material for his movie that he wants to make. I think Dahryl the detective has one of the best lines to show this. His wife asks why he is putting in so much over-time, He replies "Chili Palmer's making a movie." This book has everything: comedy, hate, double-cross, drama, love, violence, mob, music, and the movies. AND let's not forget that Chili still shows us how to BE COOL.
Rating: 
Summary: Slick yet Not Satisfying
Review: Elmore Leonard is the master of dialogue. I'll just say that right now. "Be Cool" has outstanding dialogue--as good as Leonard has written. It is crisp and tight, and he is one of the few writers who can pull off telling a story and developing characters strictly through their speech. And yet, "Be Cool" did not satisfy like it should. I felt the story lacked simply because it was transparent and did not seem original. Chili Palmer is one one Leonard's most popular and memorable characters and as much as many of us wanted to read more about him after reading "Get Shorty," Mr. Leonard should have let us suffer. I cannot stand to give it lower than a three-star rating simply because it was still a book that I had to keep reading. The plot moves along and I had to know what would happen to his always flawed, but endearing characters. And yet, like cheap Chinese take-out, I felt my gut empty hours after consuming this serving. I recommend going back and re-reading "Get Shorty" if you really need your Chili Palmer fix--you'll be happier.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't guage Elmore by this Book
Review: I have, I believe, read every book that Elmore has written, and would rate this book one of his failures. The book, a sequel to "Get Shorty," rambles for nearly 100 pages before it develops any sort of plot. I hope that Elmore goes back to Florida for his next book.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointment
Review: Believe me, I'm a fan. And I know that every swing of the bat can't be a home run. Still, this one was a disappointment. Anybody just starting on the Leonard body of work should bypass this one in favor of almost any of his others. I give it two stars ( instead of one ) simply because Leonard can't write anything but snappy, engaging dialogue.
Rating:
Summary: Another great read from Elmore Leonard
Review: I loved this book. Personally, I felt Be Cool topped the original Get Shorty. The dialogue and characters were very well written. Ya' gotta like Chili Palmer as one of Elmore Leonard's best all-time characters. This is a terrific vacation read. I notice many negative reviews here. Fortunately, I did not read these reviews before I read this book! These reviews really puzzle me- I have read all of Elmore Leonard's books and I would put Be Cool right in the top tier. Leonard used a sort of "Pulp Fiction" approach to telling this story, which is a little different from some of his other books. I enjoyed this style and found that it added variety compared to a more traditional linear approach. Only a few minor complaints: 1. I thought the relationship with Elaine was a bit contrived 2. What was the minor scene with Michael Weir all about?
Rating: 
Summary: Elmore Leonard's first yawner
Review: I've read quite a few of Leonard's books and enjoyed them all until "Be Cool". This one lacked the suspenseful plotting and picturesque if not quite psychologically deep characterization that make his other books so fun. And while most of Leonard's books have some of the same elements (his protagonists and damsels in distress all seem to be cut from the same cloth), "Be Cool" copies plot elements from "Get Shorty" without remorse. Maybe Leonard was trying to play games with the concept of the sequel as one reviewer suggested, but if so the joke falls flat. Pity.
Rating:
Summary: decline of Mr. Leonard
Review: I work in Hollywood as a runner, have for years. None of the characters in this book even vaguely resemble anybody I work with. Least of all Chili Palmer. Nor is Mr. Leonards dialog as spot-on as it used to be. Ryan's Rules was one of the greatest books I ever read. I've read it four or five times. Be Cool is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It gets worse. The dialog is so-so the characters are unbeleivable, and the action isn't real. In Ryans Rules the guys were robbing liquor stores and it was totally real, in Be Cool the one and only scene that doesn't cause a groan is the opening scene at Swingers restaurant where Tommy Athens is talking about the movie he wants Chili to make and Chili asks what's the movie about and Tommy Athens goes: "Me", now that's Holywood. On the other hand, when the 6 foot 6 Samoan barges into the studio exec womans office and bashes her TV with a baseball bat, anybody who's ever been anywhere near a studio lot will hoot with astonishment. This scene makes a deafening clunk. And then, after behaving like that, apparently we're supposed to beleive the big Samoan just strolls off the lot, because without a pass he wouldn't've been parking on the lot in the first place, where in real life the man would be getting treated like a king, as in Rodney. All I can say is give it up Mr. Leonard. You couldn't possibly need the money, could you? And if you don't you're embarrassing yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Apt material for a high school english class!
Review: I was amused by a previous review stating that a high school student had read "Be Cool" as an English assignment. That's great if your teaching a novel with zero character development, zero story, hell, practically no plot. And I've enjoyed some of Leonard's other books. And the most embarassing part is Leonard's take on present day rock 'n roll. I can see him desperately picking the brains of people he thinks might be "hep" to the current scene. He breaks the first rule of writing; write what you know about. This book was a mess. Were the blurb folks paid off?
Rating:
Summary: only but fair quality Leonard...
Review: Though I enjoyed parts of BE COOL, it is definitely not among Leonard's best. I often envision his work on the big screen. In this case, BE COOL follows one film generalization: the sequel is never as good as the original. Some funny parts, but there was also some lackluster pasts... Not the usual Leonard fare.
Rating:
Summary: disapointing sequel
Review: I was pretty disapointed in this sequel to get shorty - the main character is not nearly as street smart or as interesting as in the last story - the dialog is predicable and the humor is sparse
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