By Geno McGahee
I’ve been going through a lot of movies by Cuba Gooding JR lately. I guess it’s due to my overall curiosity as to why he is not a bigger star. He still gets a lot of work, but he’s not on the big stage. I saw that WatchMOJO.com top 10 where they said that BOAT TRIP ruined his career, but I don’t think that’s the problem. The movie was pretty decent and all meant in good fun and he was funny in it. I have to imagine that he is either difficult to work with or he burnt a bridge somewhere that has cost him. Whatever the case, Gooding JR usually produces great movies.
In the not so great CHILL FACTOR, we have Dr. Richard Long (David Paymer), and I can stop right there. Doctor Dick Long? Grow up people. Out of all the names in the world, the writer chooses a name like that? It’s obvious that his mind was in the gutter. Paymer plays the role very well despite the name. He is part of a top secret government experiment with the code name “Elvis,” and they are testing it on a remote island along with some military personnel. Colonel Brynner (Peter Firth) is there managing the troops as Long Dick Doctor does one final test, but something goes horribly wrong. Elvis is chemical warfare and the troops die, but only Brynner takes the fall, going away for ten years while Long Dong Dick Doctor continues his career.
Tim Mason (Skeet Ulrich) works at a diner and he has a history of trouble with the law. He is often harassed by a prick sheriff, but he does enjoy fishing, which he does with Dr. Long. It’s an unusual friendship but it works and they often have great conversations at the diner. Unfortunately, there is trouble brewing…
Brynner is out and is holding a grudge. Apparently he was not happy being locked up ten years and who can blame him? You know what happens in prison. Long is quite surprised when he meets up with the familiar face and is even more shocked when he sees him later on at the top secret military lab. When the dust settles Brynner and his team have killed some people and even shot poor Long Dong, but he is able to escape with Elvis before they could acquire it.
As that happens, Arlo (Cuba Gooding JR), is delivering ice cream to the diner and haggling over the money with Tim. Suddenly, Long Dong Doctor stumbles in with Elvis in hand and barely alive. He instructs Mason to get Elvis to a military base and to keep it under 50 degrees or everything within 100 miles will be fried. Since Arlo has an ice cream truck, the transportation is a no-brainer. Arlo puts up a fight, but after Mason points a gun at him, they’re good to go and his unlikely pair is on a road trip and Brynner is hot on their tale with his group of goons.
Unfortunately, there is no chemistry between Ulrich and Gooding JR. They just don’t click. Maybe Gooding JR had to make it a PG-13 relationship like Neve Campbell did in SCREAM. That seemed to get Ulrich going. It didn’t happen here and the two, although both very good typically, cannot find the mark. I don’t even think that Gooding JR was up to his game in this one. It may have been the mediocre script or the demands of the movie with the action sequences, but the entire film seems to be missing a real feeling from the actors.
The battle for Elvis continues and there is a big final showdown, as all action films have, with (spoiler) the good guys winning. The duo walks away with some hot nurses and the end credits roll.
CHILL FACTOR is one of the worst movies that I have seen Gooding JR in. It’s not terrible, but it’s just not there. It’s forgettable and the cast seems detached. I have to blame, partially, the bad material. The screenplay just wasn’t that strong. There are times a bad script can be overcome by the great acting, but when the actors aren’t into it, you get a movie like CHILL FACTOR.
Rating: 5/10
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