Stay Cool

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Stay Cool

PG-13

2009

1h 34m

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

14%

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7 Reviews

24%

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1,000+ Ratings

A successful author (Mark Polish) reunites with a high-school beauty (Winona Ryder) when he returns to his hometown.

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Jason Bailey

DVDTalk.com

Rated: 1/5

Sep 16, 2011

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Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

Attempts to pay homage to the '80s oeuvre of filmmaker John Hughes, but its singular lack of emotional logic, charm and humor bring to mind a couple of hours in detention instead.

Rated: 1.5/5

Sep 15, 2011

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Adam Keleman

Slant Magazine

This is thoroughly a family affair, but with the Polish brothers' upcoming film Manure just around the corner, Stay Cool feels a bit rushed, suggesting nothing more than an homage to Pretty in Pink or Some Kind of Wonderful.

May 3, 2009

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Brian Orndorf

BrianOrndorf.com

Stay Cool is their most grounded effort, attacking the formulaic discomfort and confusion of an impending high school reunion. It doesn't always convince, but it's the most approachable Polish production to date.

Rated: C+

Sep 15, 2011

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NOW Toronto

Rated: 2/5

Sep 13, 2010

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Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

There is much here to find admirable but a whole lot less to genuinely like.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 22, 2009

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Test T

I watched this on DVD recently. World of Books listed it used on eBay for £22.92, although I paid 17 pence for my copy from a charity shop. It's an eclectic movie, which doesn't seem to have decided what it wants to be, or who its supposed to appeal to. On the plus side, it's bright and colourful with some action scenes, buddy comedy, and a highschool reunion of sorts. It has an upbeat soundtrack and Chevy Chase appears as a bonus. It also has a narrator who vocalises thoughts from time to time to make sure you're keeping up. The problem is that the story meanders all over the place as if the plot was added at the end in the cutting room. The DVD cover art featured a big picture of Hillary Duff, which was nice, but she only has a supporting part like Chevy does. At the end the narrator does a summing up of what you are meant to have discovered before the credits role. My overall impression was that this film epitomises style over substance. The individual pieces are good but it needed someone to put them together properly.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

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Sean S

The truly bright spot in this mediocre ROM com Winona Ryder, she does her best to carry this movie but falls short given the strange plot.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/21/23

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steve d

Not cool no matter how hard it tries.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

This film left melting Henry and scarlett a lot, yes its cliched and yes its unrealistic, but its a comedy, both of the main characters played their roles very well. The script is not that bad, and the last part of the movie is actually very good. So for this being a very good solid film, and liking the performance of Winona Rider the most, I give " Stay Cool " a C-.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

This movie was a little... rough at first... bits of humor... some of it just had me shaking me head... but it's not the worst film I've even seen.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Audience Member

If you have anything that wasn't finished at high school, you can do it sometime, just step in and stay cool with the consequences!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

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Michael Polish

Director

Mark Polish

Henry McCarthy

Winona Ryder

Scarlet Smith

Sean Astin

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Synopsis

A successful author (Mark Polish) reunites with a high-school beauty (Winona Ryder) when he returns to his hometown.

Director: Michael Polish
Producer: Janet DuBois, Ken Johnson, Jonathan Sheldon
Screenwriter: Mark Polish
Production Co: Initiate Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Some Drug References|Sexual Content|Language|Some Underage Drinking)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 18, 2016
Runtime: 1h 34m
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS

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