A Cool, Dry Place is a 1998 American drama film directed by John N. Smith and written by Matthew McDuffie, based on the 1996 novel Dance Real Slow by Michael Grant Jaffe.

The film stars Vince Vaughn, Monica Potter, Joey Lauren Adams and Bobby Moat.

Single father Russ gets woken by his five-year-old son Calvin, who is soaked after getting up to mischief in the rain early in the morning.

Russ has to balance work as a lawyer with caring for Calvin after wife and mother Kate left them two years ago.

The client Joyce Ives had crashed into a restaurant with her husband Larry's car, for cheating on her with Carol, a waitress there.

While Russ is in Dallas interviewing for his dream job at a major law firm, he leaves Calvin with the neighbor Charlotte to stay overnight.

Author Michael Grant Jaffe first wrote the manuscript for his novel Dance Real Slow in the early 1990s while working as a reporter at Sports Illustrated.

[2] Chris O'Donnell was initially attached in the lead role, but the actor's wedding conflicted with the filming schedule and he was also thought of as too young by some producers.

[2] The film was shot in Ontario, with locations including Toronto[3] and the town of Lindsay (now part of the city of Kawartha Lakes).

[4] In a review for Variety, Lael Loewenstein wrote, "Vaughn does what he can with the part, but his unimpassioned demeanor obscures the vulnerability that would have made Russ a more empathetic character.