A Cool, Dry Place

A Cool Dry Place is yet another film that helps make the point about small independent movies being better than most studio films. I try to pick out unknown movies with known stars. That's how I came upon A Cool Dry Place. Vince Vaughn stars as a single dad trying to adjust to life in a small town after years of being a married, working city man. Vince is torn between the characters played by Joey Lauren Adams, and Monica Potter. Adams is much more tolerable in this movie than she is in most of her other films I have seen. I think its because her character has more of an edge, and isn't always trying to be a sweetheart like her characters in other movies are. I don't really care for Monica Potter. I would say she gets the job done, but nothing more. The actor playing Vaughn's son is wonderful because he's not as annoying as most child actors are.

I admit that this movie is kind of slow, and struggles to keep your attention for about ninety minutes. If you make it that far, the climax to the movie is magnificent, and leaves the audience with a wonderful feeling as the credits roll.

It is funny that I had just a couple of days ago watched a Cooler Climate with Sally Field and Judy Davis and it made me think that I hadn't seen A Cool Dry Place in a while and low and behold I am flipping the channels and there it is! Vince Vaughn does a great job at playing a man that is suddenly forced into being a single parent after his wife leaves him. He has to reorganize his life in order to raise his son. This movie shows what sacrifices you have to make as a single parent in order to raise your kids.

Fans of Vince Vaughn will be pleasantly surprised by this movie. It shows a different side of him, a side that I hope he shows more of in other movies.

Russell Durrell (Vince Vaughn) moves to rural Kansas with his son Calvin after getting fired as a trial lawyer in Chicago. His wife Kate (Monica Potter) abandoned them leaving the family shattered. Russell got a job working for his school friend and is coaching the high school basketball team. Noah is one of his troubled players. Russell starts going out with Noah's older sister Beth Ward (Joey Lauren Adams). Their lives are further complicated when Kate shows up.

This is like Kramer vs Kramer but it doesn't have the same touching emotions. The kid is rather bratty and bitter. It's not unreasonable but it's off-putting. The movie tries to give him some humor with the female anatomy but it doesn't really work. Vaughn has the same feel. The three leads are great. It might be useful to see what happened in Chicago. Something is wrong with this movie but it's nothing glaring.

I enjoyed "A Cool Dry Place". I found it to be a mellow but entertaining drama about a man's life. It'a very true to life story. Separated Man is out of work, man finds job he isn't happy with, man's ex-wife wants another go just as he finally starts dating a girl he really begins to love, man gets offered a "dream job" but must travel to take it, man's son is stuck in the middle of this. It's well-wtitten, for the most part, but I didn't like the pace. Vince Vaughn is capable of being a funny guy(see Swingers), but they gave his character virtually no sense of humor. I found myself giggle only ocassionally, and never busting out with laughter..while it was a drama, and not meant to be comedic, slow-moving dramas like this could benefits from some laughs. The acting is mostly good, even by child actor Bobby Moat. I'd like to see him take more child roles, as he seems very mature and understands the art of acting well for a child of his age. Vince Vaughn, who's quickly becoming one of my favorites, is well-cast but his talent is underused in this movie. His two love interests, Joey Lauren Adams, and Monica Potter are both nice to looks at, but the only the former seemed comfortable with her role. Joey is a pleasure to watch, while her voice may annoy some, I think it's just part of her charm, a charm that is abundant in this one. On the other hand, Monica Potter seemed nervous and on edge her whole on-screen performance. She doesn't show the true emotion seen in Vaughn, and Adams. Monica has done much better work than this. Like i said, the acting was good, the script was pretty good, the plot was good, but the screenwriter never gave us a climatic moment. This was my problem with the film, which was the same problem I had with "The trigger effect". It's a splendid movie, entertaining usually, but there's never that moment of climax that keeps you glued to the tube. While I found myself liking the movie, and finding it very interesting, I also found myself having a difficult time paying attention about half-way through.

It's definitely worth-watching though..check it out.

Watching this film for the second time I found it wasn't as good as i'd initially remembered.

Vince Vaughn is excellent in a straight dramatic role and his performance really carries the film, his interaction with his son is the main selling point. Joey Lauren Adams, although not given a whole lot to do, is very charming but remains two dimensional. Monica Potter does OK with a fairly thankless role but like Adams, her character's moods and motivations are never really explored. As a examination of the relationship between father and son the film does its job, however the various subplots are neglected and give the feeling of being there solely to pad the runtime.

Overall not a bad way to spend an hour and a half, just don't expect to be blown away by it.