It is so busy with its crosscut structure and its interlocking stories that it never really gives us anyone to identify with.
One Night at McCool's (2001)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:102
Fresh:34
Rotten:68
Average Rating:4.7/10
Consensus: Critics say this blend of film noir and screwball comedy seems to think itself more clever and hip than it actually is. Also, the crucial femme fatale role needs a better, more mature actress than Tyler.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: The title refers to the night when three men, Randy (Matt Dillon), his cousin Carl (Paul Reiser) and Detective Dehling (John Goodman), all meet Jewel Valentine (Liv Tyler) at a bar called McCool's.... The title refers to the night when three men, Randy (Matt Dillon), his cousin Carl (Paul Reiser) and Detective Dehling (John Goodman), all meet Jewel Valentine (Liv Tyler) at a bar called McCool's. Actually, they don't so much meet her as fall under her spell when they first lay eyes on her. In her clinging red dress she looks like a cross between a beautiful damsel in distress and the Lady In Red looking for John Dillinger. The story begins with Randy, desperate to be rid of Jewel, hiring a sleazy hitman, played by Michael Douglas in an outré toupee. His story of how Jewel led him to ruin, filmed in a stylized flashback bathed in blue, is mirrored by Carl talking to his therapist--played with a delicious verve by Reba McEntire, and Detective Dehling talking with a priest; each telling their own stories of obsession with Jewel. Tyler is clearly beautiful, but it's the evil, scheming side of her character--delivered with voluptuous softness and irresistible badness--that makes the men's actions, however ridiculous they become, feel completely believable. Dillon, Goodman, and Reiser are all type cast in their familiar personas, but the story moves quickly, the dialogue doesn't have that forced sitcom feel, and a running gag involving a wooden Indian builds to an amusing pay-off. [More]
Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser
Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Dillon, John Goodman, Paul Reiser, Liv Tyler, Reba McEntire, Richard Jenkins, Sandy Martin, Mary Jo Smith
Director: Harald Zwart
Director: Harald Zwart
Screenwriter: Stan Seidel
Producer: Michael Douglas, Allison Lyon Segan
Composer: Marc Shaiman
Studio: USA Films
Reviews for One Night at McCool's
The jokes are only funny sometimes, the stunt casting feels gratuitous after a while, and a barrage of bullets at the end is out of place.
Tyler's tongue-in-cheek noir goddess transcends cliche and the screenplay's other shortcomings terrifically.
A full-on, mean-spirited bore that's neither as sexy nor as smart as it thinks it is.
Even when the film makes no sense, it's still an enjoyably off-beat exercise.
Specific bits of humor sometimes seem forced, and the film never balances its array of sex, laughs and violence.
The screenplay ... is never clever enough or challenging enough to really exploit a terrific premise.
It's hard not to get cheesed off by the fear-of-sex, fear-of-women theme operating here.
The bulk of the humor is, like Andrew Dice Clay with black rimmed glasses, dweeby and cheap.
A picture whose wildly different components never really coalesce into a satisfying whole.
The script is tired and airless, desperate to make you laugh, and failing at that.
With its distinctive voice, the irreverent comedy makes the unsavory seem tasty.
An overwritten, overacted, overedited, heck even overorchestrated dark comedy.
Latest News for One Night at McCool's
June 11, 2007:
"Pink Panther" is Coming Back With a New Director
You knew it was coming: Steve Martin in a "Pink Panther" sequel. More...
April 20, 2006:
Critical Consensus: A Weak "Sentinel," So-So "Dreamz" Are Made Of This, "Silent Hill" Not Screened
This week at the movies we've got a Secret Service agent on a mission ("The Sentinel"), an "American Idol"- skewering political satire ("American... More...
More DVDs
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- One Night at McCool's at Rotten Tomatoes
- One Night at McCool's at IGN
- One Night at McCool's at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.



Top Critic

