A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, Columbia Pictures/Revolutions Studios, Dir. Stephen Herek - Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Archer, Cedric the Entertainer, Kelli Garner, Monica Keena, Paula Garces, Christina Milian, Vanessa Ferlito, Brian Van Holt, R. Lee Ermey, Curtis Armstrong
'Man of the House' can be described best in one word, and that word is 'multi-dimensional'. For the first fifteen minutes, it masquerades as a gritty cop thriller. As time passes, the mood changes into a light comedy. Enter Cedric the Entertainer, and the slapstick comedy jumps into full swing - then within five minutes of that, it's back to the quirkiness and then finishes off in a modern stereotypical fashion. Certainly one can become tired of all the set changes, but the spirit remains high throughout the movie to eliminate any fears of this. Judging by the looks of the trailer, I arrived at the theater with low expectations, only to find myself chuckling wholeheartedly through the entirety of the movie. Tommy Lee Jones still shows that his comic side is still intact, stealing several scenes with his deadpan expressions and audacious statements. Director Stephen Herek (of 'Mighty Ducks' and 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'-fame) manages to turn this seemingly unoriginal plot into an enjoyable diversion.
Texas Ranger Roland Sharp (Jones) is a veteran to his job, and the beginning of the story finds him in the middle of a large crime ring bust. While tracking out possible suspects through former criminal-turned-preacher Percy (Cedric), an unidentified killer shoots Morgan Ball (Armstrong) who doesn't realize that five U-Texas cheerleaders witnessed the entire crime. The cheerleaders, who prove useless in identifying the murderer, are put under a protection act by Texas law - forcing Roland Sharp to maintain watch over the girls in case any harm is inflicted upon them by the possible killers. Sharp moves into a small house with the five girls much to his complaint, where he has to conform (or not) to their overly-liberated way of life. In the process, Sharp gets to know the girls very well and even learns a thing or two about perserverance. That's the best I could put it.
Tommy Lee Jones is the winner in this entire film, and by far one of the funniest performances he has ever delievered, wiping 'Men in Black' completely off the maps. Half of the time, his laughs are caused just by the dry and peeved look on his face, and the rest consist of his snappy and grumpy one-liners delievered to the cheer squad. (Example - Cheerleader: Do you like us? Jones: No.) It also shows the slow and subtle move from basic comic writing to the quirky phase of screenwriting. Cedric the Entertainer, in a surprising turn, has his character completely downsized from the rest of the cast. His screen time runs to only about 10 solid minutes, and that doesn't even do him justice - his scenes aren't funny because he isn't, it's because he wasn't given anything to work with. There's so much more Cedric could be doing than silly little cheerleader tricks for laughs - he has plenty of potential, yet he's wasted. It would tiresome to characterize each cheerleader starring in the show, but to sum it all up, they provide a great contrast to Tommy Lee Jones' character - they're peppy, attractive (holy cow, are they ever), and obnoxious - all three things that Roland Sharp finds out of his leagues. And thankfully, there aren't very large plotlines drawn from certain characters, they're just left as anecdotes.
For some reason, I feel the transition in this movie flows smooth as butter - once one scene is finished, it moves quickly into the next, without confusing the audience member. Herek has control on each of the different plotlines - switching from action to comedy without varying the audience's mood. My biggest fear of the movie would be its obvious jabs at the differing generations (aka Tommy Lee's Baby Boomer age vs. Gen-Y), but in all honesty, it never touched base with that. Instead, it's more of a conflict between different personalities rather than age group - so I don't have to commisserate when Jones has to mutter some stupid line like 'That's tight yo' or 'Straight-up gangsta' - it was embarassing enough when Julie Andrews had to rap in 'Princess Diaries 2'. I understand if that's a hard argument to grasp, but cheap ways to associate good actors with today's youth is just downright pathetic. Imagine Marlon Brando singing 'Baby Got Back' by Sir Mix-A-Lot, and you'll see what I mean.
All in all, 'Man of the House' is really just a funny movie. Sure, it has its lame touchy moments, but most audiences can bear with this for its little time and enjoy the movie for what it is. If you're looking for something amusing for your winter weekend, this may work - especially if you've been waiting to see Tommy Lee Jones in one of his funniest roles yet.
