The Man (2005) Reviews

• It's really not that bad

  druss44121-12005-09-06

  What can be expected from a movie called The Man? A comedy from the director of American Outlaws starring Samuel L. Jackson riffing on his Jules character from Pulp Fiction with the dad from American Pie can't be decent, can it? Surprisingly, this new fall comedy is actually humorous if not outright hilarious, and it is certainly better than it looks on paper or in the TV-spots. It is a great example of a "pleasant surprise." That's not to say the premise isn't pretty cookie-cutter: Andy Fidler, an innocent dental tools salesman (cue Eugene Levy) gets caught up in an illegal weapons plot and must deal with Special Agent Derrick Vann (Samuel L. Jackson playing what he plays best) and his crazy world. Vann and Andy happen to be polar opposites, as well. What a surprise. If this all sounds strangely like the average buddy comedy about the well-mannered white guy and the tough-as-nails black guy who don't get along at first but learn to appreciate each other and then become best friends, well, it pretty much is. However, unlike many buddy comedies, this one is actually enjoyable. At a brisk 83 minutes the movie never lags too much, and instead of focusing on its implausible story or cliché subplots The Man keeps it mainly about the chemistry between its two main characters. Also, although much of the script is forgettable seldom is pure boredom reached. Traps such as unoriginal overused subplots and gaping plot holes can often catch many unsuspecting buddy comedies by surprise and help make them DOA (dead on arrival), but The Man actually seems to revel in its unoriginality, content with not pushing boundaries but with instead just having some fun. In the acting department, Samuel L. Jackson is especially a surprise. While it seems he would be pretty much bored of playing the same badass character time and time again, he manages to come off convincingly and even have some fun riffing on his theatrical persona. However, the movie never winks too much at the audience and it is able to stand on its own two feet rather than constantly say, "Hey guys don't mess with the Samuel L!" The fact that Eugene Levy is very talented at playing a character who is truly clueless also helps. Both Jackson and Levy have good chemistry and even though it's pretty much a two-man show The Man comes off without a hitch because it knows what its strength is: Levy and Jackson. The only other actor that even warrants a mention really is Luke Goss as Joey. He helps make a mundane role tolerable and interesting. He doesn't steal the show, but he has fun with being the typical criminal villain surrounded by non-descript henchmen. In the end, much credit should go to director Les Mayfield for his quick pacing and use of a variety of jokes. Again, with a movie that is basically just a rehash of many other comedies it is smart to never dabble on one topic too much and to let the actors roam free and get into their performances. The Man never becomes showy with fancy special effects or tons of big star cameos. Rather, it makes do with what it has. Sure, there are a lot of visual gags and the infamous "fart jokes" (those don't seem to ever get old for Hollywood), but it's all in good fun and there's enough semi-clever situation humor to keep the entire thing moving. Sometimes it's even evident what is about to happen, but when it does it happens in a way that is just unexpected enough to be humorous in its absurdity. One gag involving the drop off of "some merchandise" at a crowded street corner is a nice play on the clichés of so many other movies very similar to this. In the end, lives won't be changed because of The Man and it probably won't be as well received or as popular as something like the Wedding Crashers, but funny is funny and for an evening out at the movies a lot worse things could happen. Just look at The Cave. Critic's Conclusion: It's not the funniest movie of the year but that doesn't mean it isn't funny at all, and what The Man lacks in originality it more than makes up for in charm mixed up with some lively performances. It's better than the TV-spots might lead you to believe, and although it's not a must see there are a million worse ways to spend a few bucks and a couple of hours.

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• i liked it

  piecaptain2005-09-10

  Everyone in this website thinks this is a bad movie, but i wholeheartedly disagree.(pardon my spelling). Now it's true that buddy cop movies have been copied since 48 hours, but this one uses the formula they all use and cuts out all the cheesy special effects and awkward dialogue that the "bad boys" films had. Also, good movies don't have to be longer than 2 hours to be great ,and at 79 minutes, this film uses it's time wisely. Jackson and Levy are hilariously Miss-matched in two on key performances. So, just give this movie a chance and ignore the clear ripoff, the exorcism of Emily rose. One more thing, Roger Ebert gave this movie 1 and a half stars but he also gave, "the honeymooners" 3. Think about that.

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• Give them something to work with.

  tyfirewater2005-09-11

  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.

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• Entertaining light fare

  cpbeau2006-01-23

  This was by no means the best film I had ever seen. It wasn't a particularly original premise or story, nor were the jokes and gags that great...and it will by no means end up in the pantheon of the great buddy dramas... but this movie was entertaining! And isn't that the point? The movie had some language that might offend some, and a lot of the humor was crude. The base of this movie however was Sam Jackson in a familiar "Sam Jackson" character and Eugene Levy in typical Eugene Levy role. It only lasted 80 minutes or so, and there were not big plot 'twists'. Just a quick story with a few laughs. Not something that I would want to watch over and over, but worth renting or watching on cable.

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• All the production values of a Saturday afternoon action serial.

  sikboy212005-09-14

  I can't say the movie was a disappointment because I got what I expected from the trailer. I hoped for Jackson to reprise the Jules character from Pulp Fiction but I knew I wouldn't get him. Instead we get someone almost as angry and a whole lot more impotent: he threw tantrums when it's obvious that his bad-ass character would beat Levy. The chemistry between Jackson and Levy never develops, it's a tired combination of the oblivious and irritating (Levy) teamed up with the dead-serious bad-ass (Jackson). The director doesn't know how to take advantage of the two as his gags are poorly set-up. There's an awful lot of lowest-common-denominator stuff in this movie. Once the movie starts to drone on, out comes the fart jokes. In the end, I amused myself by substituting my own dialogue throughout the movie and looking for references to Toronto. That's another disappointment: the movie is set in Detroit and filmed in Toronto but there was minimal effort to actually make the city FEEL like Detroit. Sure, they digitally removed the CN Tower from the city skyline but the unique Toronto streetcars and streetcar tracks, Petro-Canada gas-stations, Royal York Hotel, bilingual signposts, people walking about and NO garbage or graffiti anywhere prove that it is NOT Detroit. They should have at least avoided the skyline completely since it doesn't match Detroit at all, even with the Skydome and CN Tower removed. There you go: a poor to mediocre effort on all levels.

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