You have to admire Eugene Levy's charm. Stuck in this out- and-out stinker of a film, Levy makes it somehow work with his nervous twitches and his hey-wait-a-minute schtick. It would have been nice if they could have found him a better actor than Samuel L. Jackson (who has a hard time whenever a good director isn't around) but Levy makes everything come together as best as it can here.

The script is a real lackluster affair with Levy, a dental appliance salesman, being mistaken for a guy who wants to buy guns. Jackson, a undercover cop, has to use the neurotic goof in order to make a buy and bust some bad guys. This isn't anything we haven't seen before and the powers-that-be are hoping to have the same sort of "chemistry" between a motormouth and a ass-kicker that has made Jackie Chan such a big film-franchise star when he is in films with prattling hipsters the likes of Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker. But while Levy may be just as amusing and verbose as those two younger actors, Jackson is certainly a poor substitute for the likes of Chan.

"The Man" is the kind of film that likes to find its humor in fart jokes. And that is the lowest of the low. But I'll be God damned if they didn't clinch the humor in this film with the funniest fart joke to be seen in a movie in at least ten years. (It involves nuns, a sure-fire way to get a laugh). Levy sells it perfectly and, in the end, "The Man" seems a more pleasant diversion than most of the stinky hot air coming out of Hollywood's ass lately.

Notes:

Also with Miguel Ferrer, Anthony Mackie, Gigi Rice, and Horatio Sanz.

Set in Detroit but filmed in Canada.

One of a plethora of movies to have this title.

Viewed in Austin in September 2005 with my nephews Michael and Eli.

Report Card

Script: D+

Acting: B-

Cinematography\Lighting: C-

Special Effects\Make Up: C

Music: D-

Final Grade: C-