The Man

'The Man' a limp piñata of clichéd characters, jokes and plots that begs to be hit...

The miscast Samuel L. Jackson stars as Derrick Vann, a caustic, gung ho Federal Agent who has 24 hours to recover a pile of stolen weapons and find his former partner's killers. This becomes much more challenging when the bad guys mistake salesman Andy Fiddler (Levy, also miscast) for the gun buyer. Now, Vann has to get Andy to pose as the front man in a sting operation.

The only thing that set's 'The Man' apart from any other buddy cop movie is that it wastes the most talent in less time then you can say "He's my bitch." I was planning on seeing "Emily Rose", but it was sold out, so I got stuck with this limp, unnecessary buddy cop "comedy" with not an original idea in it's mess of clichés. Both actors have real talent, but are wasted, trying to do their best with weak material. While the film does have some laughs, it's a lame movie with recycled jokes that doesn't realize it's a lame movie with recycled jokes. That's the real problem here.

Brainless movies are appreciated when they don't take themselves too seriously. 'The Man' can't be classified in this category because It does take itself too seriously, and actually begins to think it's a passable movie. If I wanted to see brainless fun, there are much better options out there. Don't waste $10 on this movie, don't even wait for it on DVD. Avoid.

The Man: D(3 from 10)

Great story.Great action Great acting. The reason I give it a six is because it wasn't THAT funny. It was humorous at best. This i believe is the writers fault. The dialog just wasn't good enough. Eugene had nothing to work with. He still managed to make it work somehow.Remember Splash? Samuel played great his facial expressions were masterful. I have to admit that recently I might have been spoiled by Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which had the most amazing humorous dialog. Another thing that bothered me was that it was so obviously not Detriot. You can get away with making movies in Toronto in a lot of cases. But if you want to make us believe its Detroit then you gotta mess the place up a bit more.

Ten years before this film was released, Samuel L Jackson was running round New York after being forced to help Bruce Willis in the third Die Hard film following him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now he's the renegade cop (ATF agent) out to bring justice after the death of his partner, while being suspected of being part of what happened. However, while in 1995 he was the angry accomplice to an equally angry badge holder, here he's forced to work with Eugene Levy - probably best known as Jims dad in the American Pie films - and he basically plays the same role; a family man living in middle America, this time working as a dental salesman, who's more used to fitting in with the rules than acting against them. He's almost too nice for a guy caught up in something were people have died. Samuel L is his usual cool self, especially how he deals with other officers, and his car isn't the standard issue Crown Victoria. As usual, he's extremely watchable. It's just how the polite Levy gets caught up in the middle of it and he behaves in the midst of all this action that gets a little grating. I mean, fart jokes? Samuel L Jackson may have bad things to the inside of Meat Loaf in the 51st State, but who wants to see Jules Winnfield gagging if Vincent Vega ate a Royale (without cheese)? Luke Goss makes a decent adversary for what is a buddy film between Jackson and Levy learning how to act more like the other; he's basically a business man with a gun. Miguel Ferrer, as IA Agent Peters, makes for more of an interesting "bad guy", with his single minded mission.

It's a good film. A bit washy in places and formulaic to get cheap laughs, but it gets the job done.

Good ole Eugene Levy has been around for a long time, but I don't recall him ever playing a lead character (at least from what I've seen -he's been in over 80 movies). That's is too bad, because I think he made what could have otherwise been a dud work. Jackson's character was a little too "Pulp Fiction" or "hardcore" for this type of comedy, and the story itself was mediocre (read: "cookie cutter), but I thought Levy was hilarious, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. Okay, the farting jokes were a little trite, but this is slapstick comedy. Nothing too deep, but very funny, and a decent ending. If you like Abbot and Costello, you'll probably like this. Definitely worth the price of a rental.

'Buddy cop' films have been around for as long as I have. Sometimes, they work, other times they don't. In short... simply having two people forced to work together who are basically complete opposites is not a recipe for success. Whether the film succeeds or sinks normally depends on the actors involved. And, I'm pleased to say that with the (perhaps unlikely?) pairing of Samuel L Jackson and Eugene Levy, it really does hit the spot.

Samuel L Jackson plays, well... Samuel L Jackson, while Eugene Levy plays - you guessed it - Eugene Levy. Neither really stray far from performances you've already seen them give numerous times, but - again - it works. Levy is a salesman who gets mixed up with an arms deal while having dinner in a café. Luckily, Jackson is on hand to step in and not just save him, but also sets him up as a supposed 'kingpin' that he can use to bring down one half of eighties supergroup Bros (or Luke Goss to be precise - a bad guys so generic, he'd fit right in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe!).

You may have guessed that a chatty and middleclass salesman is not the ideal person to play a dangerous criminal, but - yet again - it works. Or at least it works in terms of comedy. Yes, in real life Levy may have been gunned down within ten seconds into walking into a room with a load of criminals, but, here, they take him at his word.

There are some other minor subplots running alongside the main story, i.e. a branch of Internal Affairs are looking into Samuel L Jackson and he's also in the process of trying to patch things up with his ex wife and daughter. However, it's the two leads' show all the way. Their chemistry and banter elevates the film and makes it totally enjoyable. The bickering between the two is truly a sheer joy to watch as Levy's dry comebacks slowly wind Jackson up more and more. There's also plenty of swearing and some, moderate violence to go with the laughs, so it's more for an adult audience.

Samuel L Jackson has a wide range of movies under his belt, some big budget, others that feel almost 'straight-to-DVD.' This one sits somewhere between the two and is definitely worth a watch if you're a fan, or just like those kind of crime/comedies with a strong sense of mismatched central characters who have to overcome their personalities in order to reach a greater goal. A tale as old as time, but, if done right - and it is here - it's definitely worth an hour and a half of your time.