Curiosity wears thin fast, and Cool as Ice ends up seeming tired as well as twisted. The man whom promoters call the rap-era Elvis has negative charisma.

Question: What has a bland flavor and makes your blood run cold? Answer: Vanilla Ice.

It's one of those movies that seem fabricated for a shopping mall: decorative, pretty, vacuous.

It's all as passé and unoriginal as its star, whose brief blast of popularity at least proves Americans are wising up: After all, Pat Boone stuck around for years.