The title refers to the night when three men, Randy (Matt Dillon), his cousin Carl (Paul Reiser) and Detective Dehling (John Goodman), all meet Jewel Valentine (Liv Tyler) at a bar called McCool's. Actually, they don't so much meet her as fall under her spell when they first lay eyes on her. In her clinging red dress she looks like a cross between a beautiful damsel in distress and the Lady In Red looking for John Dillinger. The story begins with Randy, desperate to be rid of Jewel, hiring a sleazy hitman, played by Michael Douglas in an outré toupee. His story of how Jewel led him to ruin, filmed in a stylized flashback bathed in blue, is mirrored by Carl talking to his therapist--played with a delicious verve by Reba McEntire, and Detective Dehling talking with a priest; each telling their own stories of obsession with Jewel. Tyler is clearly beautiful, but it's the evil, scheming side of her character--delivered with voluptuous softness and irresistible badness--that makes the men's actions, however ridiculous they become, feel completely believable. Dillon, Goodman, and Reiser are all type cast in their familiar personas, but the story moves quickly, the dialogue doesn't have that forced sitcom feel, and a running gag involving a wooden Indian builds to an amusing pay-off.
Theatrical release: April 27, 2001.
One Night At Mccool's Reviews:
"...We enjoy the puzzle in McCOOLS, and Tyler and her co-stars do a good job of seeming like different things to different people..."
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...[Douglas] may be doing some of the best acting of his career....An enjoyably off-beat exercise..."
-- Andy Seiler, USA Today
"...The director, Harald Zwart, keeps the energy up....ONE NIGHT AT MCCOOL'S packs a lot into one night..."-- Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
"...The real fun comes in watching Michael Douglas....He makes you laugh out loud..."
-- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...Michael Douglas gives a sharp performance..."
-- Stephen Farber, Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...A perversely comic take on truth and memory..."
-- Jamie Graham, Total Film
This is the only Mary Jo Smith video.
23786 
A VERY NICE COMEDY
Liv
Email a Friend
