Dir.
Les Mayfield , US 2005, 84 mins
Cast:
Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy, Luke Goss
An action comedy in what I term the "unlikely buddies" genre, by which I mean films such as "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" with Steve Martin and John Candy and Robert de Niro and Charles Grodin in "Midnight Run", where two totally contrasting characters, who have little in common, are forced by circumstances to form an alliance, work together as a team and learn from each other. While not in the same class as those two eighties hits, "The Man" is passable entertainment.
For a start there are the buddies themselves. Samuel L. Jackson plays super tough federal agent Derrick Vann, under suspicion after his murdered partner is found to have been on the take in a multi million dollar arms heist. He has 24 hours to find the villains and the stolen arms. But first he stumbles across a new, civilian partner in the unlikely person of Andy Fiddler (Eugene Levy), a decent, mild mannered and somewhat nerdy dental supply salesman, who's in town for a convention and whose idea of being under stress is the speech about advances in dental technology that he's due to give to his dental colleagues. Somehow the bad guys, led by Luke Goss, get it into their heads that he's "The Man", the one who's going to buy the stolen arms, and Andy finds himself drawn willy nilly into Vann's mission.
It sets up its two contrasting characters well - Levy as the family loving, decent, little bloke and Jackson as the ruthless, lonely, divorced cop and the two of them play very well together. Levy is always funny and Jackson can speak furious, comic volumes with a look. There are some nice gags, such as Andy's trick to try to persuade Vann not to use the "f" word all the time and some good physical comedy, including a very neatly timed car chase. And Goss is a credible, snarling villain. It makes too much use for my taste of that feeble old staple, the flatulence gag - several times - and it's as well Levy is so funny, otherwise the way he's made to be almost the patron saint of family values and the American way of life would have got on my wick. Some of the very extreme violence, particularly from Jackson's character, is a bit heavy in what is basically a comedy and the various twists of the plot, the how and why we get from one situation to another, isn't always that clear. It's certainly not a great film but it moves at a good pace, resists any temptation to be outstay its welcome and overall it is entertaining, largely because of the skill of the two leading players.
Carol Allen
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