MOVIE REVIEW : ‘QUIET COOL’ EXPLODES WITH VIOLENCE

“Quiet Cool” (citywide), an R-rated macho revenge fantasy, pits a New York supercop (James Remar) against a savage gang of thugs hired to guard one of the many large marijuana crops flourishing in the Pacific Northwest. Remar has responded to a call for help from an ex-girlfriend (Daphne Asbrook), who has relatives who have fallen victim to the thugs.

There’s no real probing of how mom-and-pop grass growers were supplanted by big drug operators, a fresh and viable subject rich in implications and possibilities. Instead, director Clay Borris, who collaborated on his script with Susan Vercellino, settles for routine ultra-violence as Remar, aided only by Ashbrook’s young nephew (Adam Coleman Howard) engages in a brutal war with the bad guys.

Borris directs with drive and control, but “Quiet Cool” is just another glum, empty, exploitation picture that benefits more than it deserves from Jacques Haitkins’ handsome cinematography.

To his credit, Remar, who is introduced in a bravura chase that has him riding a motorcycle onto a Manhattan subway car (!), manages to seem as intelligent as he is tough. The film’s curious title comes from a remark that “quiet cool” is something you have to discover inside yourself. It’s not up there on the screen, that’s for sure.

‘QUIET COOL’ A New Line Cinema release. Exec. producers Pierre David, Arthur Sarkissian, Larry Thompson. Producers Robert Shaye, Gerald T. Olson. Director Clay Borris. Screenplay Borris, Susan Vercellino. Camera Jacques Haitkin. Music Jay Ferguson. Assoc. producer Sara Risher. Film editor Bob Brady. Film James Remar, Adam Coleman Howard, Daphne Ashbrook, Jared Martin, Nick Cassavetes, Fran Ryan.

Running time: 1 hours, 26 minutes.

MPAA rating: R (Under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian.)