Cool Blue
Cool Blue | |
---|---|
Directed by | Richard Shepard |
Written by | Mark Mullin Richard Shepard |
Starring | Woody Harrelson Hank Azaria Ely Pouget Sean Penn |
Edited by | |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Cool Blue is a 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by and Richard Shepard, and stars Woody Harrelson, Hank Azaria, Ely Pouget and Sean Penn.[2] The film received an R rating by the MPAA.
Plot[]
An aspiring painter named Dustin Pennett (Harrelson) is on a search for love, sex, and inspiration when he meets a woman named Christiane (Pouget) at an art gallery. They spend the night together at her apartment, but the next morning she has disappeared, leaving Dustin heartbroken. He visits her family home in Southern California and learns from her younger sister that Christiane ran away at a young age after having an abortion, also finding out that "Christiane's" apartment was actually a display room she had broken them into.
Dustin returns home to Los Angeles and, after confiding in Phil (Sean Penn), a plumber who has seen Dustin and Buzz at their local pub, about his issues with Christiane, finds success painting portraits of her from memory, idealizing her as his true love. Dustin's best friend, a struggling writer named Buzz (Azaria), envies his friend's newfound success. After Dustin easily beds Cathy, a woman Buzz has been chasing for two years, Buzz angrily shouts at Dustin and threatens him with a pool cue during a drunken argument.
Christiane returns to the gallery and finds Dustin's paintings of her, including a nude one which she slashes. She then breaks into his apartment and throws blue paint on him. Christiane says that they had a meaningless encounter and complains that the paintings are interfering with her life. Dustin responds that he painted them because their night together meant something to him and he wants to get to know her as a person.
After making up with Buzz, Dustin ditches a show planned for him in New York by his manager Paul in order to meet Christiane at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The film ends with a shot of Dustin and Christiane embracing.
Cast[]
- Woody Harrelson as Dustin
- Hank Azaria as Buzz
- Ely Pouget as Christiane
- as Paul
- as Bruce
- Judie Aronson as Cathy
- Christopher McDonald as Peter Sin
- Gloria LeRoy as Ida
- as Sascha
- as Les
- Cindy Guyer as Girl in Gallery
- as Rebecca
- as Cindy
- as Bartender
- as Anna
- John Diehl as Clayton
- Sean Penn as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)
Home media release[]
Filmed in mid-1988 in Los Angeles, Cool Blue was picked up for domestic distribution by RCA-Columbia and Epic Home Video in late 1989. It was first released in the US on February 27, 1990 on pay-per-view and cable TV. On March 7, it was released in the US on VHS and LaserDisc, however it was first released in Greece on VHS in September 1989. In 1991, the film was released on VHS in Australia and the UK.
It was not released on DVD until March 13, 2012, when MGM Home Entertainment released a remastered widescreen version as part of their Limited Edition Collection, with a trailer as the only special feature.
References[]
- ^ Listed as 87 minutes on PAL releases due to the 4% speed difference
- ^ The New York Times
External links[]
- 1989 films
- 1990 films
- English-language films
- 1989 romantic comedy films
- American films
- American romantic comedy films
- Films about fictional painters
- Films set in California
- Films set in Los Angeles
- 1989 directorial debut films
- Films directed by Richard Shepard
- 1980s romantic comedy film stubs