User Reviews

Russ (Vince Vaughn) has moved to a little town on the prairie. Once a hotshot Chicago lawyer, he lost his job when his wife took off and left him the sole provider for his five year old son. Now a country lawyer with a big house and yard, Russ and wee Calvin are learning to adjust. Calvin is making friends and loves the wide open spaces while Russ starts dating a nice veterinary assistant named Beth (Joey Lauren Adams, looking very lovely). But, unhappily, the ex-wife, Kate (Monica Potter) suddenly returns and wants time with her son, messing with Russ's mind. Then, too, Russ believes he needs a higher profile job to feel complete. How will it all end? This is an excellent movie about a single-parent father and his young son. But, alas, the film's cover and description lead one to believe it is a love triangle story, with hardly a mention for the darling little boy. Not so. The movie is about finding out what is important in life and what is not, with most of its footage devoted to the special relationship between a parent and a child. Vaughn is excellent as the caring father, just excellent. If you are a fan of his comedic talents, you might be surprised by the depth of his acting range. Adams is likewise very attractive as a small town girl with a big heart while Potter delivers a fine performance in a thankless, complex role. The rest of the cast is up to par as well, the costumes well-chosen and the grassland setting most beautiful. In short, you may never have heard of this film but it is richly rewarding and deserves a large audience. You will not be in a "high and dry" situation if you bring this film home tonight.

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.

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.

'A Cool, Dry Place' is not a bad film by and means and I think Smith's intentions were genuine but there's just something about it that doesn't make the film stay in mind. Perhaps it's the too familiar plot. The film is a little on the mellow side but enjoyable and has some very funny moments and gives a warm feeling. The location of the setting is refreshing and the score adds well to the country mood. Both Joey Lauren Adams and Monica Potter do well. Adams's performance is more natural while Potter's effort is sincere (she did have the harder part) but it is Vince Vaughn's film. The actor is outstanding. All the actors share a good chemistry that shines on screen. On the whole this 'A Cool, Dry Place' is a nice warm film but it's not one that stayed after ending. Perhaps I should give it another chance.

I just thought I would write and let you know that the movie was awesome.

I say awesome cause I know what the actors and crew had to put up with in the attempt to make this movie. It is called: "A Cool Dry Place." However, while the crew and actors were here there was likely only 2 days that were dry.

They changed all of the signs in our small town and reconstructed the beauty in our old town (Lindsay, Ontario --- Now the City of Kawartha Lakes).

The movie turned out great, the actors were wonderful and everyone was very nice to be around.

I hope more Movie makers find the glory and wondrous uniqueness of our Town (City) and decide to film here.

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.

"A Cool, Dry Place" puts Vince Vaughn in the vortex of choices created by the return of an estranged wife, a son in his sole custody, a lover, a major career move, and a job as a High School basketball coach. This even-tempered film finds a pleasant middle ground between hardcore reality and melodrama as it shows the audience how, perhaps, the best thing we can all have in life is as simple as "a cool, dry place".

Vince Vaughn is one of my favorite actors. He makes the single father role extremly genuine. The guys is diverse. The kid and he are great together. There is a scene where the father eavedrops on his son and a playmate at daycare that had me laughing like crazy. The movie was slow, but had some real dialoge gems. Joey Lauren does her normal thing. I like her, but only when she gets naked.

Was I watching the same movie as the other commenters? I suppose I was, but my take on "A Cool, Dry Place" is quite different from theirs. I didn't like it. Admittedly, it has a good set-up. Driven, power-lawyer relocates to a small Kansas town after his wife leaves him and their four-year-old son. Although dedicated to his son, he pines for the fast lane, falls for a local gal, and then guess who shows up? Good elements for drama, but they are not developed, at least logically. People are consistently taking actions that make no sense. I kept asking myself; 'why they'd do or say that?' And the acting was not that good. I felt that I was watching actors, not real people. All in all not a very good movie, there are much better to rent.

The tone comes from "Kramer vs. Kramer" (marital disintegration, child used as a weapon), with extractions from "Doc Hollywood" (the attachment to the setting).

There's no disguising this as anything other than Vaughn's star vehicle...that said, he accomplishes the job. Part of the reason these movies exist is for producers to figure out if they've got a leading man with presence and appeal -- here, they do.

What they got right: the center of this is the father-son dynamic, not the common date movie. Oh, it has all the requisite date movie parts: a romance is established, something drives the couple apart, they are reconciled at the end and we cheer -- but this movie is smart because the adornments of the romance are subservient to the center, not the other way around. There is no offensive melodrama.

What they could have improved: cinematically, there could have been more elements of interest. Kansas is a scenic place, as I know from my own travels there. The most interesting element here is the house, a fine example of a Folk Victorian, circa 1910.

At the finale, there was a huge opportunity to use the landscape and apply a visual reinforcement to the narrative (coming home) -- disappointingly, it never came to pass -- not even one sunflower to admire.

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.

Vince Vaughn is very convincing as a single father in this film! The most intriguing feature of this film is Vince out of funny! This is my first experience with him not trying to make me laugh, and yes, he did make me cry! Torn between new love, new job, old feelings and a child, his character took me on a roller-coaster ride that didn't end until the credits rolled!!! If you see no other Vaughn movie this one is a must! Not only is the story great, but Vince is gentle and compassionate; a father that takes his job as a parent most seriously. The angst in his day-to-day struggle as a parent and a man will leave you thinking about parenthood long after the movie has ended!

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.

What can I say about A Cool, Dry Place?

No, really, what can I say? The plot was, uhm, oddball. I often say that plots twist and turn, but this one kind of flatlined its way through. Vaughn's character is initially offensive, but he gets this fuzzy glow about him later on. Adams turns in a great performance.

But the characters are uninteresting overall, and the whole thing is befuddling. I don't get it. What's so great about A Cool, Dry Place? Well, it's a heck of a place to store your perishables.

2.0/5.0 stars.

A great little slice -of -life film. Just sit back, relax and enjoy. Don't often get to see well acted father/son relationships like this one - I just felt Vince Vaughn was a real natural. Also liked Joey Lauren Adams role - have not seen her before, but she was perfect in it. Bobby Moats was outstanding - what a great little actor! 3*/4*

watched it on hbo,knowing nothing about it,except guide gave it 3*. Pretty good, and I'[m too old to care for most films of this genre. I agree with comments by user in toronto,can Though the actors weren't any I recognized, they were all good, esp. the boy playing the son. worth seeing.

A Cool Dry place was released in the same year as that joke of a movie starring Vince Vaughn called 'Psycho'. That was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Shortly afterwards 'A Cool Dry Place' was released, it is better than 'Psycho' but it just isnt great. The acting is very week and the score is only hightened by the good plot. Sure, if you MUST watch it because it's the only film on tv then watch it, but dont hold your breath.

6/10 If you like this try:

Forrest Gump

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.

Another film from the alphabetical trawl through Disney Plus, now made much more arduous by the arrival of the "Star" channel to the app. "A Cool, Dry Place" is a soapy drama from 1999, that had me come away with two major thoughts. 1) Wow, I really take digital high definition film for granted now and 2) when, if ever, will this movie end.

Unable to maintain his job as a city solicitor now that he's a single father, Russell (Vince Vaughn) takes a low-pressure job at a rural practice where he's able to raise his son, Calvin (Bobby Moat) and even coach the high school basketball team. He begins to see Beth Ward (Joey Lauren Adams) romantically and is starting to get a handle on things when his wife, Kate (Monica Potter) re-enters their lives hoping to re-establish relationships with Calvin and with Russell.

The first thing that has to be said is that the version that is currently up on Disney Plus looks terrible. It's grainy film stock, that hasn't been remastered and it really makes the film feel like a cheap TV movie. Which it absolutely would be, were it not for the star names in it. You don't appreciate how good things can look in a digital age, until you have to look back on something like this, which is only twenty years old.

Now I can accept visual issues if the story is good, but alas that isn't the case either. "A Cool, Dry Place" (which is a terrible title, even with the concept that it comes from within the film) is a dull soapy film, full of odd bits of plot that don't service the story much but get the run time up. There are B and C stories, one involving Devon Sawa as Beth's tearaway brother and another, even more bizarre one, about a case that Russell has, that at least gives some screen time to the ever-reliable Todd Louiso. Neither of these plots actually concludes, goes anywhere or feeds back into the main story at all.

It doesn't help that the poster suggests that it's a sexy thriller, which despite a couple of super mild sex scenes, it really isn't. Nor that Vaughn is rather a bit miscast as the romantic lead given his propensity for playing edgier weirdos. God bless all the reviewers that found something positive about this, but I thought it was tedious.

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.

I liked the actors in this one but what they were doing and saying wasn't as good in my humble opinion ... we have seen this story lots of times and better done too (I was often reminded of Kramer Vs. Kramer while I was watching it but obviously that movie is a better one ...

Vince Vaughn is a good actor and should have known better than to appear in a movie like this one that very few people will see ... only movie nuts like me could possibly be interested in watching something like this ...

Some unbelievable scenes near the beginning and a lot of corny moments, especially near the end but by that time, the movie was so far gone, I didn't really care what happened anymore ... and it's a shame because the actors were all doing their best ... but the ship was taking water too rapidly ...

2/5

Weak and unimpressive movie which tries to be tender, acute and deep on a very delicate theme like relationships between fathers, mothers, sons and other people who came along (a new girlfriend, for example) but results a tiresome misfire. I give this a 3 (three).

This movie did not have a wide release in New Zealand. I had to have the film couriered from the other side of the country, and it was well worth it.

A Cool Dry Place is a movie that leaves you feeling warm. Its sensitive, and funny and even a little sexy. The storyline is believable, and the calibre of Vince Vaughns acting shows through in his scenes with Bobby Moat who plays his son Calvin . Vince Vaughn does not have children but you would never believe it after watching this movie.

Joey Lauren Adams and Monica Potter also both shine in this movie. Joey Lauren Adams character Beth is reminiscent of her character in Chasing Amy, tough and sassy but ultimately sweet. Monica Potters Kate is someone we like to hate, such a vast difference to her role in Patch Adams. I urge people to watch this movie, its beautiful and I loved every minute. After watching this movie, you'll fall in love with Vince's character Russ, and end up falling in love with Vince Vaughn too.

I really enjoyed this movie because it shows that father can raise kids on their own not just the moms and that when they do they have the same struggles we as mothers have in a single parent household. Of course it's dramatized but at least it's a start. It also shows that men aren't the only ones to run off on their kids. Not too many movies actually show this perspective. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Tyler Perry's 'Daddy's Little Girls'. I also think the boy is just precocious enough that it would take a dad to handle him because he sure gets into stuff but then it breaks my heart at the same time because it's all for attention that he's not getting from his mother in my opinion. I definitely recommend at least watching this movie one time. I have watched it several and my husband agrees it's a good movie.