One Night at McCool's (2001)

Every man has a different recollection of the beautiful young woman who wreaked havoc on their lives during one heated night.

Director:

Harald Zwart

Writer:

Stan Seidel

Stars:

Liv Tyler, Matt Dillon, Mary Jo Smith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matt Dillon	...	Randy
Mary Jo Smith	...	Bingo Caller
Michael Douglas	...	Mr. Burmeister
Paul Reiser	...	Carl
Reba McEntire	...	Dr. Green
John Goodman	...	Detective Dehling
Richard Jenkins	...	Father Jimmy
Sandy Martin	...	Bingo Vendor Woman
Liv Tyler	...	Jewel
Andrew Dice Clay	...	Utah / Elmo (as Andrew Silverstein)
Ric Sarabia	...	Uniformed Cop at Bar
Tim DeZarn	...	Detective Ertagian
Leo Rossi	...	Joey Dinardo
Rob Neukirch	...	Deliveryman
Andrea Bendewald	...	Karen

Storyline

After another hard night at McCool's, bartender Randy runs into Jewel. The seductive lady seems to have evaded a rape pretty closely, and when the man comes back, she puts a bullet in his head. After all these events (and others), Randy takes Jewel home, and the two become a couple. Yet Jewel begins to develop into a very demanding girlfriend and drives Randy into committing crimes for her and her elaborate lifestyle. Randy's cousin Carl is driven crazy by Randy's incredibly sexy girl as well as the investigating officer, Detective Dehling.

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Plot Keywords:

pantyhose | cult favorite | detective | robbery | leg spreading | 

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Taglines:

She's three men over the legal limit

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

e-Pipoca - synopsis, gallery, wallpaper [Brazil] (Portuguese) USA Films

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 April 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Un ángel seductor

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,520,041, 29 April 2001

Gross USA:

$6,290,673

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,578,186

Company Credits

Production Co:

October Films, Furthur Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

6 years earlier, Matt Dillon had starred in another movie about a beautiful manipulative woman. That movie was To Die For (1995). In the film, Nicole Kidman stars as an evil, manipulative and overambitious TV weather girl whom conspires with her teenager lover to murder her husband (Played by Matt Dillon).

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Goofs

When the lawyer tries to rape Jewel, he rips off her black panties. However, in the next shot they're back again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bingo Caller: N-43. Four-three on the N.

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Crazy Credits

In Memory of Stan Seidel

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Alternate Versions

The DVD features an alternate ending where after, we see 'Paul Reiser' get smashed by the garbage dumpster, it continues as we see Matt Dillon in his destroyed home and John Goodman lying dead on the floor; the cops come and arrest Dillon because they think he was responsible for the shooting and then we see Liv Tyler and Michael Douglas drive off and live happily ever after. This ending is refered to as "Alternate Depressing ending".

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Connections

References Hamilton (1998)

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Soundtracks

YMCA
(1978)
Written by Victor Willis (as Victor Edward Willis), Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali
Performed by The Village People
Courtesy of Scorpio Records Paris, France and The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Roshomon meets American Pie...if only the writing held up to the end

Few could seriously argue that ONE NIGHT AT McCOOL'S is great film making - it doesn't even really live up to the title which is merely the opening for each of the three stories (interrelated perspectives) we follow drawn from the events which began one night at a watering hole named McCool's. Great film making or not, the film knows how to push most of the right buttons and quote the right classic models for a good "naughty" time, and most viewers will have such a good time before the story's energy runs out in the last 20 minutes, that they won't really care.

Matt Dillon turns in a fine performance (and not just his from eyebrows and abs - though they get their usual workout) as the put-upon bartender who gets drawn into the increasingly outrageous chain of events by the beauteous (and predictably amoral) Liv Tyler as bodies - dead and otherwise - start to pile up. The main story thread is told for most of the film in flashback as Dillon, at a low point in his life, recruits aid from an oddly cast Michael Douglas. Paul Reiser is his cousin, in the midst of a severe midlife crisis and explaining his story to his new therapist, Reba McEntire (turning in another delightful set of reactions) and John Goodman is the policeman - and one true innocent in the story - also drawn into the web of events by lost love and seeking council from his all too interested parish priest, Richard Jenkins.

Inocence and midlife frustration are not rewarded in a film like this (stick around for the punchline joke life plays on Reiser at the end - it's a drop-dead killer!), but for the Saturday night crowd who wants a happy ending, Dillon gets one Moliere would have been proud of, and in this case, even the modern version of a "Tartuffe" may get to ride happily off into the sunset.

A solid supporting cast TV viewers will smile at (Andrea Bendewald, a chilly blonde source of laughs in so many shows, is particularly good in the small role of Reiser's wife) keeps things rolling and occasionally adds just by the baggage they bring. Completing the mix is a surprisingly satisfying double role tossed to Andrew Dice Clay (nearly unrecognizable in each) as the "friend" who starts and finishes the whole chain of events.

The McGuffin here is "house hunger," and those who love ONE NIGHT AT McCOOL'S should seek out Harold Prince's twisted black comedy fairy tale, SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE where Michael York has the same weakness. It might make a great double feature.