'Stay Cool' Trailer – Mark Polish Hangs With Hilary Duff, Samwise Gamgee, And Sawyer Ford In High School Reunion Comedy

Back in 2009, the Polish Brothers, Mark and Michael, released two films on the festival circuit: The Smell of Success premiered at Sundance, while Stay Cool opened at Tribeca. Now, two years later, both films are finally getting released in theaters. The Smell of Success just got a very limited opening this month, and Stay Cool will be hitting theaters September 16. A new trailer's just been released for the latter, and... well, I can see why no one was in a hurry to rush this out.

Stay Cool follows a successful writer named Henry McCarthy (Mark Polish) who returns to his high school as a commencement speaker at the request of Principal Marshall (Chevy Chase). Once Henry arrives, Marshall encourages him to "connect" with the graduating class, which apparently means sitting in on classes and passing notes with students. (I don't know about you, but I have never had a commencement speaker that did this.) Winona Ryder plays Henry's high school crush, who's now a local pharmacist, while Hilary Duff plays a current student who's got her eye on Henry. Sean Astin, Josh Holloway, and Jon Cryer also star. Watch the trailer after the jump.

[via Yahoo]

The Polish brothers' career got off to a strong start with the well-received Twin Falls Idaho and the interesting Northfork, but they seem to have mostly fallen off the map in recent years. Their latest film, For Lovers Only, quietly hit Video On Demand this summer. The brothers were reportedly offered the chance to direct the Akira remake at some point, but opted to stick with indies.

It's still possible that the Polish brothers could turn it around and make themselves a career that actually lives up to their early promise, but Stay Cool does not appear to be the film to do that. It doesn't look terrible, just mediocre — judging by the trailer, there's little to differentiate Stay Cool from any other high school reunion film. I am a bit curious about the movie because of the eclectic cast, but it's not enough to get me to the theater. Unless another, better trailer comes along, I'll be sitting this one out.