Gangster-turned-movie producer Chili has grown tired of the screen trade, especially after his latest project turned out to be a box-office flop. Chili is looking for new horizons and thinks he may have found his niche when his close friend Tommy Athens, a fellow mobster who runs an independent record label, is murdered by Russian gangsters. Chili takes over Athens' record company, Nothing to Lose Records, and begins courting Tommy's girlfriend, Edie. Edie is an experienced hand in record production, and together she and Chili spot what would seem to be the ideal act for their label - Linda Moon, a beautiful young woman with a powerhouse voice. Linda is stuck, however, in a going-nowhere R&B trio managed by the monumentally sleazy Raji. Chili isn't much concerned about Linda's contract with Raji, but Raji certainly is, and the manager soon takes out a contract on Chili with the same Russian hoods who killed Tommy. Soon Chili is facing all the action he can handle between the Russian gunmen, a music mogul named Nick Carr who wants Chili to stay out of the business, and Sin LaSalle, a successful hip-hop producer who wants Chili to pay him the 300,000 dollars he is owed by Tommy.
There were a ton of stars in this film and it might have just been too much. Everything about this movie was over the top, but I think the worst part (and most over the top) was Vince Vaughn's portrayal of a hardcore band manager. It really detracted and distracted from the rest of the film. Other goofy roles were The Rock as a gay Samoan bodyguard and Andre 3000 (from Outkast) as a clumsy, gun-toting rapper. As a whole, the film was more silly than good and was essentially a remake of Get Shorty using the music business instead of the film business as the main storyline. John Travolta plays the same character and some of the scenes from the first film are re-created verbatim for this one. Overall, I was disappointed with this movie and felt it was a complete waste of the amount of talent that was available. There was no reason to remake a 10 year old film that wasn't a classic to begin with.
Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Andre Benjamin, Steven Tyler, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, The Rock, James Woods, Danny DeVito
I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.
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