This Chili is off the boil

You would never believe that the great Elmore Leonard, writer of 40 novels, many of which have been filmed, had anything to do with this overlong, flaccid and hopelessly self-reverential sequel to Get Shorty, one of the best adaptations of his work. Yet he shares discredit for the screenplay with one Peter Steinfeld.

John Travolta reprises Chili Palmer, a film producer in Get Shorty but now in the music industry. Allied to Uma Thurman's feisty widow of a record producer, he plunges in wholeheartedly to find the Russian Mafia and local crooks blocking his path to a young singer (Christina Milian) whom he and the widow have fortuitously discovered.

That's the plot and it may sound fun. But such is the somnolence of F Gary Gray's one-paced direction, turning every character into caricature or cliché, that the two hours seem like two days.

Travolta sleepwalks through his part as if waiting for the good line that never comes; Thurman does a passable imitation of a passé rock chick and is even persuaded to do a not very convincing dance with Travolta. There are cameos from Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, The Rock and Danny DeVito which they won't want to remember in a hurry.

Only Cedric the Entertainer and Christina Milian as the young singer come out of the mess with credentials intact.

I used to think The Big Bounce was the worst of Elmore Leonard adaptations, but this farrago is the pits.The best ever? Tarantino's Jackie Brown, for accuracy and flair.

Be Cool
Cert: cert12A