Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
The return of Chili Palmer..., Jul 15 2004
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.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sequel that's as Good as the Original, Mar 6 2004
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.
|
|
|
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great first half., Sep 7 2003
This is a sequel in which Chilli Palmer goes into the music business. Chilli, as his name suggests, is wonderfully cool. He is tough, but gets his way by outsmarting and confusing his adversaries. As is usual in an Elmore Leonard, most of the characters are fun, even the evil ones. I loved the first half of the book (until about the baseball bat murder) which is done with a light touch. By the end, however, the book became ALMOST tiresome. I am not sure what the problem is. Perhaps it is that Palmer's ultimate love interest is a totally uninspired character, and Palmer, himself, seems to be going through the motions, even while the plot twists continue unabated.
|
|
|
Most recent customer reviews
|
