Man of the House
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Movie Reviews of Man of the House
Movie Review: Mmmm... Monica Keena
Summary: 3 Stars
While this movie isn't terrible, it could have been so much better then it was. Don't get me wrong, it has its moments, but overall the whole movie seems to be lacking. If nothing else Monica Keena (Undeclared) and the rest of the cheerleaders are easy on the eyes. Anne Archer and Rick Perry, along with Tommy Lee Jones, all give this movie some extra ties to the State of Texas. Ok, but not great.Movie Review: Very Funny
Summary: 3 Stars
Not one of Tommy Lee Jones best movies but very watchable and has an excellent ending. It's very funny to see him in a comedy as he as so often done serious movies, but he easily does the genre. If you get the chance you should see this one.Movie Review: Nothing To Cheer About
Summary: 2 Stars
Months before its release, "Man of the House" was the subject of an extensive promotional campaign, it seemed like every visit to the theater included another opportunity to view its sexploitative trailer. Then a few weeks before the premiere the promotion stopped and the movie was released without fan-fair to a pared down list of theaters. Apparently some insightful person at the distribution company finally viewed the entire feature and figured out that the producers had failed to identify a target audience.
Seemingly aimed at teenage boys and promoted as sexploitation, the film is actually far more chick-flick than titillation, comedy, or action adventure. And they wonder why these things lose money.
Tommy Lee plays Roland, a Texas Ranger (a reprise of his character in "The Fugitive"), who (big surprise) is not big on smiling or on emotional displays of any kind. Right under his nose a Texas mobster named John Cortland has the government witness Roland is guarding murdered, and Roland's female partner shot. This seems to irritate Roland, who hates people named John, as everybody knows. Lucky for Roland, five UT cheerleaders saw the murder. Because they're witnesses, they are in danger, so to protect them Roland moves into their house near campus. It is the best student housing I have ever seen but it serves to put Tommy Lee into close contact with the young females.
Instead of the snotty cheerleader stereotype, each girl fits into her own movie stereotype- the Bad Girl (a cowgirl via Brooklyn), the Latina Firecracker (who speaks with the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel), the dumb blonde (who falls for Tommy Lee but loses out to her English Professor-insert "Back to School" here), the Brainiac blonde (who does little more than get her period and balance out the blonde quotient), and the token black girl (who would only be considered black in America and whose lines are limited to the philosophy of cheerleading). Kelli Garner as the dumb blonde is a pleasant surprise. Unlike Tommy Lee, none of the girls are demonstrably embarrassed to be in the film, despite being far less sexy that the actress who plays Tommy Lee's daughter.
Predictably it is only a matter of time before Roland's grumpy exterior is worn down by his house-mate's perky charms. Unfortunately for action/adventure fans (or for those looking for a bit of suspense in their films), there is never any sense that the girls are in actual peril. At least in part because close examination of the premise reveals little or no logic to support the necessity of having them eliminated.
While there isn't much to recommend "Man of the House," there's no major reason to warn people off other than the horrible mismatch between content and target audience. It's no worse than half the movies that get made. But be prepared to fast-forward through the sequence where the girls give Tommy Lee a makeover. If you view this in real time it will haunt your dreams and retard your sleep for many years to come.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Movie Review: Not even good "By the Numbers"
Summary: 2 Stars
When people talk about a Hollywood film as being "formulaic", THIS is what they mean. If not for the presense of Tommy Lee Jones and some cheesecake jiggling (if you're looking for cheesecake jiggling) there would be nothing notable about this movie that goes strictly by convention.
How about Tommy Lee Jones as a hard-nosed lawman? Hmmmm. Haven't seen that since "Lonesome Dove", "Men in Black", "The Fugitive" and all their respective sequels. How about throwing in the fact that his marriage failed and he has a daughter who he barely knows because of all the time he's been away at his job? How about throwing in a love interest who serves no purpose other than to have someone Tommy Lee can marry in the final scene? How about a ridiculous story about a crime lord and the "bad cop" who's on the take?
Now add the jiggle factor. Five Texas Longhorns Cheerleaders witness the murder of someone involved in the whole crime thing. Put Tommy Lee in charge of protecting the cheer-witnesses so that the bad guys don't get them. Let the hilarious hi-jinks ensue!
Jones warns the Cheerleaders early on that he doesn't want them parading around the house in their skimpy little outfits. They don't listen. Boy, does he ever get them! He has an air-conditioner the size of a semi installed and sets the thermostat to a level appropriate for a meat locker, and sends the $7,000 bill to his police captain. Boy, that's a funny one!
Cedric the Entertainer has a small role as an ex-con who is now a minister who maintains his criminal contacts. As our hilarious script would have it, ol' Preacher Ced was ALSO a Texas Longhorns Cheer-Guy and we get to have a "by the numbers" dance number where Cedric shows the girls how to do things "old school".
The movie has one cliched scene after another, and there were about four or five times I worked up a pretty good chuckle. This is not the highlight of Tommy Lee Jones' stellar career.
Movie Review: Teenybopper fluff
Summary: 2 Stars
I have to admit, I knew this movie was going to suck. Now, some people reading this will immediately think I had my mind made up and didn't give the movie a chance, but I think most people realize that the great majority of Hollywood movies, you can tell from the previews whether you're going to like them or not. Honestly, the only reason I watched this was because it was filmed in Austin, and yes, I recognized 90% of the locations in the movie. But whereas I thought that might provide some kind of cheap thrill in a film that strives for cheap thrills and simply doesn't get them, the familiarity actually made the movie even duller.One thing about Tommy Lee Jones: I know people have mentioned that he's done this kind of character before, blah blah blah. But this is his forte. Nobody does the stone-faced, smartass Southern authority figure quite like Tommy Lee Jones. He certainly isn't stretching out in this role, that's for sure, but if you're a TLJ fan that will probably be the only kick you get out of this movie. I used to be down for Cedric the Entertainer, but since he seems to be (...) himself out to every director paying cent one, the overexposure is kind of wearing me out on his presence. My guess is Tommy Lee Jones did this movie for the same reason Sandra Bullock did the first "Miss Congeniality". It was a chance to shoot a movie close to home without lifting a finger and still pull in a ridiculous paycheck. A sound business decision to be sure, and if your overriding motive to see a film is to witness a sound business decision, by all means see "Man of the House".