Plot Summary

Everything begins one night at McCool’s bar. Randy (Matt Dillon), the bar’s laid-back owner, is keeping the place open late while Carl (Paul Reiser), a cautious and mild-mannered lawyer, lingers over his drinks. Detective Dehling (John Goodman) arrives with a more serious purpose: investigating a murder connected to the bar.

The balance of the night shifts dramatically when a striking young woman named Jewel (Liv Tyler) suddenly appears. Her presence instantly heats the atmosphere, leaving a powerful impression on all three men. Before the night is over, each of them finds himself consumed by thoughts of Jewel—for one, she becomes an irresistible obsession; for another, a tempting escape from his marriage; and for the last, a haunting reminder of a lost wife.

Yet Jewel is far more dangerous than she first appears. Manipulative and unpredictable, she weaves a web of desire and deception that draws these three men together for reasons far darker than simple attraction. One Night at McCool’s unfolds as a stylish neo-noir, blending dark humor with crime and fatal attraction, as each man recounts his version of the same night—revealing how truth, memory, and obsession can be fatally unreliable.