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Be Cool doesn't do what it says on the poster. Whereas Barry Sonnenfeld's Get Shorty (1995) was sharply tailored to John Travolta's epic sense of style, F Gary Gray's sequel hangs awkwardly off his shoulders like a cheap suit. Lazily adapted from the pulp novel by Elmore Leonard, it finds onetime loanshark Chili Palmer ditching the movie industry for the music business. Sadly this film struggles to find an easy tempo and the high notes are few and far between.

All that lingers is The Rock as gay bodyguard and movie star wannabe Elliot, eliciting laughs with just a lift of his eyebrow. He does the grunt work for a hip-hop talent scout played by Vince Vaughn whose barking impression of Snoop Dogg on crack is only funny for a while. Even so, as rivals for singing sensation Linda Moon (Christina Milian), Vaughn and The Rock make a more compelling double act than Travolta's partnership with Uma Thurman.

"A LACKADAISICAL, PAINT-BY-NUMBERS APPROACH"

Annoyingly Tarantino's muse has nothing to do except fall for her leading man and while their chemistry is palpable, Gray leans on it too hard. An indulgent dance scene inevitably falls short of their boogie in Pulp Fiction and is symptomatic of Gray's lackadaisical, paint-by-numbers approach. Sloppy editing provokes an air of lethargy in stark contrast to the smooth-flowing groove of the original and makes two hours feel like much longer. Paling drastically in comparison to the vibrant Get Shorty, Be Cool is one sequel that should've been left on ice.