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A Cool, Dry Place is a 1998 drama film adapted by Matthew McDuffie from the 1996 novel Dance Real Slow by Michael Grant Jaffe.[2] It was directed by John N. Smith. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Monica Potter, Joey Lauren Adams and Bobby Moat.

A Cool, Dry Place
A Cool Dry, Place Poster
Directed by	John N. Smith
Written by	Matthew McDuffe
Based on	Dance Real Slow by Michael Grant Jaffe
Produced by	Katie Jacobs Gail Mutrux
Starring	Vince Vaughn Monica Potter Joey Lauren Adams
Cinematography	Jean Lépine
Edited by	Susan Shipton
Music by	Curt Sobel
Production company	Fox 2000 Pictures
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	November 6, 1998 (1998-11-06)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$4,390[1]

Plot

Single father Russ balances work as a lawyer with caring for his five-year-old son Calvin after wife and mother Kate left them two years ago. Russ and Calvin have moved to small-town Kansas from Chicago after Russ's corporate law firm fired him for spending more time with his son. Grandpa sends Calvin a jellyfish from Florida. It is obviously dead but the boy wants to keep it, calling it "Mom".

While working at a smaller law firm, Russ also coaches the local high school basketball team. He benches the disrespectful Noah for his frequent absences from practice. In retaliation, Noah's older sister and guardian Beth dumps a bag of dog food on Russ's windshield. She frightens Calvin, but in making it up to the boy she and Russ are drawn into a romantic relationship.

Their new relationship is interrupted when wife Kate reappears, wanting to reassert herself in her son's life. Russ feels torn between the two women and about what to do with Calvin. Kate clouds Russ's ability to raise his son on his own, which leads Russ to doubt in his own parenting skills. As Russ starts to think he might reconcile with Kate, she confesses that not only has she fallen in love with someone else, but that she probably never even loved Russ.

While Russ is in Dallas interviewing for his dream job at a major law firm, Kate runs off with Calvin to Cincinnati. When he realizes the boy is missing, he talks to Beth, who convinces him that Calvin needs him and he must try to get him back. Russ turns down the job in Dallas, Kate relinquishes the boy back to Russ, and Russ and Calvin return to Kansas and Beth.

Cast

Production

Author Michael Grant Jaffe first wrote the manuscript for his novel Dance Real Slow in the early 1990s while working as a reporter at Sports Illustrated.[3] Before the novel was published in 1996, Fox 2000 secured the movie rights for six figures.[3] Matthew McDuffie then adapted the book into a screenplay. The film became titled A Cool, Dry Place, which was Jaffe's original title for his book.[3]

Chris O'Donnell was initially attached in the lead role, but the actor's wedding conflicted with the filming schedule and he was also thought of as too young by some producers.[3] The film was shot in Ontario, with locations including Toronto[4] and the town of Lindsay (now part of the city of Kawartha Lakes).[3]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, A Cool, Dry Place has a 54% rating based on 13 reviews.[5]

In a review for Variety, Lael Loewenstein wrote, "Vaughn does what he can with the part, but his unimpassioned demeanor obscures the vulnerability that would have made Russ a more empathetic character. One craves the tenderness of Tom Hanks' widower dad in Sleepless in Seattle or the sentimental journey of Dustin Hoffman's divorced father in Kramer vs. Kramer, but Vaughn's Russ doesn't feel as lived-in as those memorable performances."[6] Other criticisms were of the script's melodramatic aspects and that the characters were underwritten.[6][7]

References

External links

• A Cool, Dry Place at IMDb
• A Cool, Dry Place at Rotten Tomatoes

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