Joe Somebody (2001)

Director:

John Pasquin

Writer (WGA):

John Scott Shepherd (written by)

Release Date:

21 December 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Drama

Tagline:

A Comedy About Somebody Everybody Can Believe In.

Plot:

When Joe is beat up by a co-worker in front of his daughter on "Bring Your Child To Work Day", he decides to fight back.

Plot Keywords:

Business | Corporate World | Corporate | Cubicle | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Tim Allen	...	Joe Scheffer
Julie Bowen	...	Meg Harper
Kelly Lynch	...	Callie Scheffer
Greg Germann	...	Jeremy
Hayden Panettiere	...	Natalie Scheffer
Patrick Warburton	...	Mark McKinney
James Belushi	...	Chuck Scarett (as Jim Belushi)
Ken Marino	...	Rick Raglow
Wolfgang Bodison	...	Cade Raymond
Cristi Conaway	...	Abby Manheim
Robert Joy	...	Pat Chilcutt
Tina Lifford	...	Cassandra Taylor
James Cada	...	Exec. Bill
Tawnja Zahradka	...	Waver 'Tawnja'
Ahna Brandvik	...	Neva

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, thematic elements and some mild violence.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #38706) | Iceland:L | Canada:PG | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Conner's Deli - 5411 Penn Avenue S., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Trivia:

Jim Carrey was initially offered Tim Allen's role, but declined to do The Majestic (2001) instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Joe's wife chases him out of the 3rd Street theater, as she watches him walk away, an extra exits the building. The extra should still be visible in the background of the close-up, but he has vanished.

Quotes:

Joe Scheffer: Excuse me I'm looking for Meg Harper, do you know where she is?
Old Man: She's on the roof.
Joe Scheffer: The roof? are you sure?
Old Man: Son, she's a 31 year old woman and I'm a 72 year old man, I know where to find her.

Movie Connections:

References Wo hu cang long (2000)

Soundtrack:

Whip It

Good, clean family fun

Tim Allen is a very talented comedian, so I feel almost all his movies are worth seeing. So far, the only one I dreaded was "Jungle 2 Jungle." "Joe Somebody" has everything you would expect in a family comedy and the story is predictable. But the point is it's a fun movie to watch and I was quite entertained.

Julie Bowen (from "Happy Gilmore" and TV's "Ed") plays Allen's love interest. God! She's one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood! I hope to see her in more and more movies. My heart just melts everytime I see her on screen. Jim Belushi is hilarious as Allen's martial arts personal trainer/out-of-work action star. I guess that's an inside joke, spoofing his own movie career...LOL. But I love Jim, he's truly an underrated comic actor. If you want to see him in other funny performances, I suggest you see "Taking Care of Business" and "Return to Me." What did disappoint me was the lack of screen time for Patrick Warburton. He's only in the film for about ten minutes! Warburton is another truly talented comic actor--we all loved him as Puddy on "Seinfeld"--and he's definitely going places. He literally doesn't get to say any funny lines in this movie. That sucks! That's why I'm really, really looking forward to the release of "Big Trouble," also starring Allen and Warburton, where hopefully we'll get to see a lot more of Patrick.

Like most family films, the third act becomes serious and the comedy sags, because this is the point where they're supposed to deliver the "message." And like most family films, the message is delivered in a deliberately corny fashion. I'm sorry, call me a pessimist, but even if you're going to deliver a message there should be a sense of reality to it. "American Beauty" was a film with a message--in fact, a bunch of messages--but it was delivered in a very unpretentious, realistic manner without fearing the audience's reaction.

In the opening of the film, we establish that Allen is a loser. Why? Who the heck knows? But for some stupid reason, everyone around him--whether it's at work or around town--doesn't even bother to acknowledge he exists. He says hello, but no one says hello back. And suddenly, just because he plans on fighting the most hated man in the workplace, everyone thinks of him as a god? Maybe this could happen in the sixth grade. But in an upscale working environment? I don't think so. Even adults can be shallow, but that's ridiculous.

So don't go into "Joe Somebody" expecting to be enlightened or touched in any way. Just go in for the laughs--and if you're a guy, also go in to see the beautiful Julie Bowen. There's an incentive!

My score: 7 (out of 10)