The Man (2005)
Directed by Les Mayfield
Written by Jim Piddick, Stephen Carpenter
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy. Miguel Ferrer, Luke Goss, Anthony Mackie
Release Date September 9th, 2005
Published September 8th, 2005
Both Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy have appeared in some very bad movies. Jackson has missed a number of opportunities to establish himself as an above the title star by choosing to star in subpar films like No Good Deed and Formula 51 and worse choices accepting supporting roles in bad movies like Twisted, Deep Blue Sea and Basic.
Eugene Levy has always been a dependable supporting player but roles in bad movies like Bringing Down The House, New York Minute, and Like Mike have some wishing he would only accept work with his good friend Christopher Guest where Levy really excels. Given the actors' track records teaming them in a buddy comedy did not exactly scream hit movie. The Man is not as bad as some of their previous poor outings but certainly not among either actor's highlights.
In The Man Samuel L. Jackson essays the kind of take-no-crap badass cop, ATF agent Derrick Vann, that has become his own personal cliché. When a cache of guns is stolen and a cop is found dead it's up to Agent Vann to find who did it. In his take-no-prisoners way, Vann quickly gets a bead on the bad guys but he is about to be derailed in a most unexpected way.
Andy Fidlar (Eugene Levy) is a good husband and father who loves his job selling dental supplies. The pinnacle of Andy's career is a speech he is going to give in Detroit in front of hundreds of colleagues. Unfortunately for Andy things do not go as planned as he ends up at the wrong place at the wrong time. Accidentally intercepting Agent Vann's meeting with the bad guys, Andy now must join Vann to bring down the bad guys but only if Vann can resist the urge to kill the annoying and bumbling Andy.
The plot of The Man is established quickly and efficiently with characters suitably introduced and motivations well understood. Credit director Les Mayfield whose strength is in his quick pacing as he showed in the comedies Blue Streak and Encino Man. At 87 minutes The Man is another example of Mayfield's talent for efficient film-making.
Of course efficiency alone does not a great film make. Mayfield's quick pace has a lot to do with the film's very thin story. The plot is about puddle deep and relies heavily on well-worn clichés and the likability of Jackson and Levy. The script does neither actor many favors. It's a very flimsy premise and writers Jim Piddock, Margeret Oberman and Stephen Carpenter also resort to bathroom humor and light gay bashing. Call it the trifecta of bad screenwriting.
Even in this clichéd story both stars remain appealing. Jackson's taciturn bad-ass is overly familiar but not without its entertaining moments. Levy's chatterbox obliviousness has most of the film's funniest moments, though, like Jackson's cop character, we have seen Levy do this before. The mismatched buddy humor works occasionally in The Man simply because both actors are so talented.
In scenes where Jackson and Levy bond unintentionally thetwo actors show a talent for elevating material that is often well below their respective talents. If The Man has any moments of solid humor it is because both actors work hard to bring life to the material, something they can almost always be depended on for. In the merely functional role of the bad guy little known British actor Luke Goss acquits himself about as well as he can given the dull witted way the character was written. Goss has little to do but exist as a rerun of bad guys past. His role is distinguished only by moments where Goss and Levy trade confused tough guy dialogue. It's only two or three scenes but Goss at least shows up well enough not to be embarrassed.
The same cannot be said of supporting roles for Saturday Night Live's Horatio Sanz, comedian Suzy Essman, and Miguel Ferrer all of whom are stuck with commonplace roles indistinguishable from lame TV tropes of similar characters. The Man is not as bad as many of the horrible films released in 2005 and that is owed entirely to Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy. Even in a bad movie both actors remain entertaining. If both were to fire their agents and focus on finding better material maybe they could work together again in a film worthy of such strong and appealing talents.
