''Cool Blue'' is a 1989 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by Mark Mullin and

Richard Shepard Richard Shepard (born 1965) is an American film director, film and television director and screenwriter. Biography Shepard was born in New York City, New York (state), New York. Shepard's father was from an Austro-Hungarian-Hungarian Jews, Jewi ...

, and stars

Woody Harrelson Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor and playwright. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to nominations for three Academy Award ...

Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...

, Ely Pouget and

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

.The New York Times
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Plot

An aspiring painter named Dustin Pennett is on a search for love, sex, and inspiration when he meets a woman named Christiane 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, a plumber who has seen Dustin at his 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, 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 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was founded in 19 ...

. The film ends with a shot of Dustin and Christiane embracing.

Cast

as Dustin *

as Buzz * Ely Pouget as Christiane *

Paul Lussier Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

as Paul * Phillip Brock as Bruce * Judie Aronson as Cathy * Christopher McDonald as Peter Sin * Gloria LeRoy as Ida *

Karen Haber Karen Haber (born January 9,"She came upon the story somehow, was startled and amused to find that she shared a birthday with its protagonist (...) Her name was Karen Haber (...) Today was her birthday, the seventh of January": introduction to "Ca ...

as Sascha * Jonathan Chapin as Les *

Cindy Guyer Cindy Guyer is an American model, producer,actress and restaurateur from Stamford, Connecticut. Early career Discovered by Wilhelmina International Inc. (Wilhelmina Models) at the age of 14, Guyer went on to become the most prolific model t ...

as Girl in Gallery * Elisabeth Mullin as Rebecca * Allison Robinson as Cindy * Brian Ruf as Bartender * Nicoletta Munroe as Anna *

John Diehl John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including '' Land of Plenty'', ''Stripes'', '' City Limits'', ''Nix ...

as Clayton * Julie Friedman *

as Phil the Plumber (uncredited)

Home media

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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC ( d/b/a MGM Home Entertainment and formerly known as MGM Home Video, MGM/CBS Home Video and MGM/UA Home Video) is the home video division of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. History ...

released a remastered widescreen version as part of their Limited Edition Collection, with a trailer as the only special feature.

References

External links

* {{Richard Shepard 1989 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films about fictional painters Films set in California Films set in Los Angeles 1989 directorial debut films 1989 films Films directed by Richard Shepard 1990s English-language films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1990s American films