One Cool Night
Bruce Von Stiers

I saw a trailer for a film that looked sexy and funny. It starred Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas and Liv Tyler in what seemed to be a crime comedy. It ended up being one of those films that, if it didn’t have big names in it, would have slipped quickly into obscurity. The title of the film is One Night At McCool’s.

Randy (Matt Dillon) is a bartender at McCools. He meets a hot redhead and instantly falls for her. Only the situations that Randy finds himself in are bizarre. Jewel (Liv Tyler) is a hot, tawdry woman who wants a lot of things out of life, specifically a house and a DVD player.

The film shows the story from the perspective of three men who interacted with Jewel because of one night at McCool’s bar. The first perspective is from Randy. He rescues Jewel from an abusive boyfriend. She goes home with him and they have hot monkey sex. Then Randy finds out that the whole thing was a set up so that Jewel and her boyfriend Utah could rob him. Things go wrong and the three of them end up back at McCool’s where Utah gets killed. We get this information from flashbacks as Randy is relating the story to Mr. Burmiester, a man that Randy is meeting with at a bingo parlor.

The second perspective comes from Carl (Paul Reiser). He is some off-shoot cousin of Randy’s. Carl ends up being at McCool’s because his wife and kids are out of town. He sees Jewel in the bar and then later when Randy rescues her from the boyfriend. Carl becomes enthralled with this young sexy woman. We get Carl’s version of the story as he unfolds it to Dr. Green (Reba McIntire), a shrink.

The third perspective is from Detective Dahling (John Goodman). He is the homicide cop assigned to Utah’s death. Jewel reminds him of his dead wife. He too is utterly enthralled with Jewel. Dahling just can’t get enough of Jewel. His story is related to his priest, Father Jimmy (Richard Jenkins).

The stories of these three men are sad and sordid as each is sucked into Jewel’s twisted dream of a happy home. Randy can’t get beyond being a small time anything, loves having the great sex with Jewel but she is driving him out of his home. Carl is so sexually frustrated that Jewel is a gift that he just can’t wait to unwrap. And Dahling is missing his wife so much that the first young thing that reminds him of her turns his head and other body parts, around.

All of the actors in this film are great. Goodman and Reiser are two actors that I really enjoy. Dillon and Douglas have done a wide range of roles, as has the two other guys. I’ve also enjoyed watching Ms. Tyler in several good roles. But I don’t consider this film a good vehicle for any of these actors.

If you just have to watch a film with Douglas, Reiser or Dillon in it, then go ahead and grab a copy of One Night At McCools. But if you’re not a big fan of any of these guys, don’t waste your time. Liv Tyler is red hot here, but the pouty looks and sexy scenes that she does isn’t enough to carry the film.