One Night At McCool's:

I recently began to wonder how long it had been since a movie had really made me laugh. Not just smile, but bust a gut, wipe tears out of my eyes, clutch my side, think I'm going to stop breathing, roar with laughter. Frighteningly enough I realized it had been months. Ever since "There's Something About Mary", directors and writers have equated super gross-out with funny. However, the recent spate of disastrous "comedies" - "Tomcats" and "Freddie Got Fingered" instantly come to mind- have hopefully shown just how wrong this thinking is. Does anyone in Hollywood remember how to make a good comedy? I'm still undecided.

Jewel is the kind of woman that every man wishes for: tall, gorgeous, aggressive and a "demon in the sack". Unfortunately as the saying goes, if something seems too good to be true… Jewel's charms are backed up by a penchant for philandering, double cross and murder. After one night at a back street dive of a bar, three unlucky men - a bartender, a lawyer and a police officer - learn what it's like to have there prayers and worst nightmares come true when they're caught up in her whirlwind.

"One Night at McCool's" plays like the Japanese classic "Rashomon" -different people recount their experiences of the same event and we're never quite sure which one to believe. This movie marks the breakout performance of Liv Tyler both literally and figuratively - as Jewel she is practically spilling out of her clothing, and abandons her innocent persona delivering one of the best vixen performances in recent memory. She is positively wicked. Matt Dillon is enjoyable as the pitiable sop who, although his life is destroyed by her conniving, can't seem to let her go. Paul Reiser manages not to be too annoying as a sleazy lawyer, while John Goodman, who seems to be wheezing through his lines, is quite distracting. Michael Douglas' turn as a slimy coifed contract killer with an agenda all his own is quite amusing and you want to take a shower every time he is onscreen. Andrew Dice Clay (remember him?) and Reba McEntire round out the cast with decent performances.

Aside from the aforementioned movie reference, "One Night at McCool's" borrows liberally from such classic films as "Coolhand Luke" and "Falling Down". While I enjoyed these and other manipulations, the movie spends a little too much time trying to be clever and consequently suffers from several noticeable lulls. What I found most disappointing however was the "surprise" ending that many people have commented on - although I did laugh at it, the effect would have been much greater if it had not been revealed in the trailers (on the off chance you have not seen them, I will say no more)!! I laughed nonetheless.

"McCool's" succeeds largely because it is subtle, well acted and most importantly, funny.