I'm normally not too much a fan of American romantic drama's, because too often they are sweeter than syrup. If I want to watch such a drama, I usually go for European ones. While the American movies try too hard to create an atmosphere that is supposed to make you cry, the Europeans don't use that trick at all and often succeed in it better than their American colleagues. However, because this was a movie with a different approach to the interaction between a career driven man and his kid, I decided to give it a try.
Russell Durrell is a single father who has to combine his job as an attorney with the education of his five year old son Calvin and his job as a high school basketball coach. Since his wife left him a few years ago in Chicago, he lives with his son in a small town in Kansas. Just as he starts to develop a new relationship with a veterinarian's assistant, his ex suddenly reappears. So far she has only called once in a couple of months to hear how her son was doing, but now she wants to renew her bond with Russell and their son. This causes a lot of problems of course and to make things even more complicated, he is also offered the job of his dreams in Dallas. Will he be the career driven guy who leaves everything and everyone behind or will he stay and forget about his career?
Like I said, I gave this movie a try only because it offered a new approach to a familiar subject. I guess there must be thousands of (TV)-movies that deal with a similar story (sometimes based on true events, sometimes purely fictional), so that doesn't always make it easy to like a movie for its special story or quality. And now that I've seen this movie, I have a double feeling about it. Sure, it was OK and offered some decent drama, but it never got to a higher level than all the other movies in the genre. The acting is OK, without being excellent, the story could have been a lot worse, but isn't all that special... It's just another, predictable Hollywood drama that offers nothing to really look forward to.
I guess "A Cool, Dry Place" will be loved most by the female audience. Vince Vaughn isn't exactly the greatest actor ever, but what he does is OK and I know that many women like to look at him. Add to this a story that offers a single dad who loves his little boy more than his career and their heart starts melting away in an instant. Personally I wasn't very convinced by this movie. It could have been a lot worse, but it was far from a masterpiece. Still, it's watchable and that's why I give this movie a 6/10.
Russell Durrell is a single father who has to combine his job as an attorney with the education of his five year old son Calvin and his job as a high school basketball coach. Since his wife left him a few years ago in Chicago, he lives with his son in a small town in Kansas. Just as he starts to develop a new relationship with a veterinarian's assistant, his ex suddenly reappears. So far she has only called once in a couple of months to hear how her son was doing, but now she wants to renew her bond with Russell and their son. This causes a lot of problems of course and to make things even more complicated, he is also offered the job of his dreams in Dallas. Will he be the career driven guy who leaves everything and everyone behind or will he stay and forget about his career?
Like I said, I gave this movie a try only because it offered a new approach to a familiar subject. I guess there must be thousands of (TV)-movies that deal with a similar story (sometimes based on true events, sometimes purely fictional), so that doesn't always make it easy to like a movie for its special story or quality. And now that I've seen this movie, I have a double feeling about it. Sure, it was OK and offered some decent drama, but it never got to a higher level than all the other movies in the genre. The acting is OK, without being excellent, the story could have been a lot worse, but isn't all that special... It's just another, predictable Hollywood drama that offers nothing to really look forward to.
I guess "A Cool, Dry Place" will be loved most by the female audience. Vince Vaughn isn't exactly the greatest actor ever, but what he does is OK and I know that many women like to look at him. Add to this a story that offers a single dad who loves his little boy more than his career and their heart starts melting away in an instant. Personally I wasn't very convinced by this movie. It could have been a lot worse, but it was far from a masterpiece. Still, it's watchable and that's why I give this movie a 6/10.