Massachusetts Daily Collegian
It would feel unethical, almost dirty, to criticize a movie whose writer recently died. As part of being a journalist, though, one must contend with the equilibrium between what’s morally right and wrong, and also what is honest and true. One Night At McCool’s has the sentimental credit at the end that says ‘In Loving...
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Massachusetts Daily Collegian
It would feel unethical, almost dirty, to criticize a movie whose writer recently died. As part of being a journalist, though, one must contend with the equilibrium between what’s morally right and wrong, and also what is honest and true. One Night At McCool’s has the sentimental credit at the end that says ‘In Loving Memory of Stan Seidel,’ the man who penned the quirky script.

In it, Liv Tyler plays Jewel, a feisty, sumptuous young woman who meets three hapless men one night at McCool’s, a local bar. One man is a lawyer who is having marital problems (Reiser), another is a widowed cop (Goodman), and the third is the slow-witted bartender (Dillon). In the course of the night’s proceedings, Jewel shoots her boyfriend Utah (Andrew Dice Clay, barely recognizable behind his biker beard) and finds that these three lovelorn men will do anything for her to keep her out of trouble.

Tyler certainly has the goods to capture men’s fancies, as she has done so many times before (Armageddon, That Thing You Do!), and here it shows double-time. From her dangerous curves to the ditzy and adorable Marilyn Monroe demeanor, she fits the role to a tee (and a very tight one at that). Much like Charlize Theron did in her breakthrough role Two Days In The Valley, Tyler takes a primarily male-oriented film and dominates it with her irresistibility, while not upstaging her gentleman cast mates.

As for the men themselves, One Night At McCool’s is fortunate enough to have a talented ensemble that is also very well versed for comedy. Reiser, a founding father of Must-See TV on Mad About You, and jovial John Goodman’s several years on Roseanne (and many film projects to boot) make them both suitable for a movie that’s lighthearted like their aforementioned television shows. Matt Dillon, who possesses a knack for slow-witted characters (or is that just how he is?), is still riding the wave of one of the most successful comedies of all time, There’s Something About Mary (which, coincidentally, is also about three men falling for the same, klutzy woman). The cast is rounded out by Michael Douglas, who also produced the movie, as a hired gun sent to kill Jewel. He is the best part of the entire movie, even though he has the smallest role. His 1970’s hair-do and dry comedy take a while to register before the humor fully comes across. When Douglas is asked if he trusts Dillon’s character, he replies, ‘Yes,’ and then casually adds, ‘but I do kill people.’ Douglas proves not only that he is a multi-talented actor who excels in all film genres, but also that a lot can be done with the smaller parts in films.

Overall, however, the movie doesn’t really make you laugh out loud, like the coming attractions might lead you to think. There are a few moments when laughter gets the better of you (such as Goodman catching Reiser in a leather and chain S’M outfit) but for the most part, the humor is dark and bizarre (witness a DVD player kill a man, and a trash dumpster fall out of the sky on another). Unlike current films quoting themselves as comedies, One Night At McCool’s doesn’t resort to toilet humor, so older crowds are sure to love it. At the same time, this could be the film’s downfall; I still have yet to see evidence that young audiences can digest and appreciate clean comedy.

This movie does have a clever spin, however. We see the story of what happened that night at McCool’s three different times, first by Dillon, then Reiser, and lastly Goodman. There is fun overlap between the three versions, and then a climax where Utah’s brother (also played by Clay) comes a-knocking for some revenge. If the movie until now has left you surprised, you’ll never expect the ending where an extremely violent shoot-out takes place. Yet the film goes on in its cheery manner, and we’re still stuck wondering, ‘What the hell was that?’

One Night At McCool’s certainly is different than one could ever expect. You’re thrown back and forth between like and dislike, comedy and drama. The amount of talent behind it, though, is clearly evident, and the talented and likeable actors save it from being anything less than a pre-summer piece of entertaining fare.