Floated2
A Cool, Dry Place is a rather smaller independent yet partly forgettable film released in 1998. The film is helped enormously by strong performances from the leading players. Vince Vaughn stands-out, in one of his earlier leading roles. At times, the film appears almost too subtle in its treatment of the four main characters. This is particularly so in the case of Beth (Joey Lauren Adams), whose role is most likely under-written for its significance in the overall story. Another subtle flaw within the film is that there leaves several questions hanging. Such as, why did Kate leave in the first place? Where did she go? Why is she suddenly back? These questions appeared not to be fully explained, and the lack of answers weakens the characters as their motivations are unclear. The film is quite predictable within the ending, but in these drama pieces, it is relatively expected. A good, happy ending is the right way for the film to end.
ctomvelu1
I should have known this was based on a novel. It plays out like one. Adult drama about a Chicago lawyer whose wife abruptly leaves him. He has a young son to care for, and for reasons I missed, he then moves to Kansas (it may have to do with what I presume is a sister living there). He picks up a job as a high school basketball coach. One of his players has a sister with whom the now-single dad begins a relationship. Guess who comes roaring back into his life at this juncture. Then, on top of everything else, he gets a call from an old classmate who is a lawyer in Dallas and who offers him a job. Now things get really complicated, especially when he realizes he cannot take his son with him. Vince Vaughn is the dad and Lauren Adams is the new love interest. The wife is played by Monica Potter, an actress who sounds like Julia Roberts but who never has had much of a career. Vaughn and Adams are fine in this chick flick, Potter not so fine. She simply lacks the acting chops to pull off the role of a troubled, wayward woman. If Elizabeth Banks had been old enough to play the role, she would have done it justice. The movie is for women and sensitive men only. Manly men, beware.
edwagreen
Guess what, Vince Vaughn can really act and it is about time that he be used more in mature subject matters. He is quite effective here in the role of a father who is forced to take care of his little boy when the wife and mother goes off to her sister's engagement party and never returns after 18 months.While the premise may be a little silly to believe, Vaughn gives it his all and in certain ways reminded me of Dustin Hoffman's "Kramer vs. Kramer."The little boy is adorable and appealing in the role. The film works because it deals with maturity and responsibility in a very apt way.Vaughn is an attorney who also dabbles in coaching basketball in the film. One of his renegade players has a sister and you know the rest.
guilfisher-1
Okay, I'm in the minority here as I did not like this movie and thought there were absolutely no saving graces in the performances which seemed very flat to me. The story was trite and uninteresting about a father/son/separated mom idea. How many of these have we seen. What comes to mind in being a better film on the subject and makes COOL DRY PLACE look like a carbon copy is KRAMER VS. KRAMER. Now that film had better actors better script and talk about a child's performance. The kid in KRAMER outshone this kid by a mile.Vince Vaughn I'm not familiar with. He seemed to be one level acting without too much of anything going on inside. If he's the new heart throb, I fail to see this. Blank looks and no emotional backbone, this actor I felt made stupid mistakes throughout the movie. Guess that lies in the acting. I felt he deserved to be dropped by both girl friends and his son.His girl friends were losers as well. Maybe the one he meets has a bit of an edge. At least she had guts. The ex-wife was a washout. And the boy was typical child actor. Nothing that good. All in all it was an evening to be forgotten. Sorry, there are better ones out there.
AD
