Review
MAN OF THE HOUSE
Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Archer and Cedric the Entertainer
Directed by Stephen Herek
Now playing
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There is obviously an official checklist in Hollywood that scriptwriters, producers and directors strictly adhere to when making a fish-out-of—water action-comedy. And Man Of The House must have scored full points on its sheet when it was handed in.
Tommy Lee Jones is Roland Sharp, a veteran Texas Ranger who’s the best at what he does (check), but has spent so much time being a cop it’s cost him his marriage (check) and any relationship with his teenage daughter (check). After a brutal drug-related murder (check), Sharp is given the assignment of protecting the five witnesses (check). Unfortunately, the witnesses are five cheerleaders from the University of Texas, so Sharp must go undercover as an assistant cheerleading coach and move in with them.
Given this setup there’s certainly no end to the original comedic possibilities this movie can provide – or maybe they should just stick to that checklist. Sharp’s young partners ogle the barely dressed cheerleaders (check). Sharp walks into bathroom full of hanging lingerie (check). Sharp gets confused while shopping for feminine hygiene products (check).
And of course, along the way Sharp and the girls must bond in a way that only five cheerleaders and a gruff Texas Ranger can. Sharp pushes the girls to achieve academically (check). Sharp saves girls at the bar (check). The girls show Sharp how to loosen up with the ladies (check). The girls show Sharp the importance of family (check).
Binding together this tightly coiled spring of entertainment are some explosions (check), shootouts (check), physically fit bodies (check) and a joke about a cellphone in a cow’s ass (probably not on the checklist).
Jones has played the stone-faced straight man in previous films with great results, but here the audience is just left waiting to see which cliché moment will crack his grizzled puss into a heartwarming smile. And the supporting cast of Anne Archer and Cedric the Entertainer have little more to do than provide someone for Jones to fumble his words with and have a "cheer off" in a church with.
All the elements in director Stephen Herek’s film have been done before and better. So for a solid movie about protecting a witness, try Witness. And if seeing cheerleaders in their sorority house is more the film you’re looking for, how about Revenge of the Nerds. |
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