Protecting witnesses is a challenge. Living with them is impossible.
Movie Man of the House
The Plot (screenit.com)
Roland
Sharp (TOMMY LEE JONES) is a Texas Ranger hot on the trail of a
government witness, Morgan Ball (CURTIS ARMSTRONG), who may be able to
testify against ruthless criminal John Courtland (TURNER STEPHEN
BRUTON). Accordingly, Roland goes to see former convict turned preacher
Percy Stevens (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER) who had ties to both men. A
shootout, however, leaves Roland's partner injured and Morgan ends up
dead at the hands of an unknown assailant. That would seem to leave
Roland with a cold trail, but his superior, Captain Nichols (R. LEE
ERMEY), informs him that a small group of college cheerleaders actually
saw Morgan's murder and have now come forward as witnesses. Roland
thinks he'll have no problem getting their eyewitness accounts, but he
wasn't ready for the likes of Anne (CHRISTINA MILIAN), Teresa (PAULA
GARCES), Evie (MONICA KEENA), Heather (VANESSA FERLITO) and Barb (KELLI
GARNER) who can't agree about the perp's appearance and are preoccupied
with the interrogation interrupting their busy social lives.
Divorced
and nearly a stranger to his 17-year-old daughter Emma (SHANNON MARIE
WOODWARD), Roland can't believe their shallowness and vanity, but
things only get worse for him. Since the authorities know that
Courtland will have any witnesses killed, Roland and two other Rangers
are assigned to protect the cheerleaders. As the other two men move in
across the street in a frat house, Roland ends up staying in the girl's
house, much to their dismay since his no nonsense demeanor and strict
rules about their activities from now on don't sit well with them.
Going
undercover and posing as the assistant cheerleading coach, Roland tries
to make sure the girls are safe, unaware that his friend, FBI agent
Eddie Zane (BRIAN VAN HOLT), is really in cahoots with Courtland and is
now after them. As Roland attempts to protect the girls, they soon
overcome their differences, with them advising him about his fatherly
relationship to Emma and newfound romantic one with campus professor
Molly McCarthy (ANNE ARCHER).
My Review
Fortunately, this is a movie that has the presence of Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Archer. Unfortunately, this is the movie that they had to be in!
Man of the House could have been one popular flick. Why, it has all the ingredients - action, comedy, romance, Tommy Lee Jones himself & endearing actress Anne Archer.
Then why does such a dish fail to entice the viewers? I think I know
the answer - if the makers of the movie decide, "Let's do something
wacko out of the ingredients that we have here. Something really
crazy".Then, we know how the final outcome would be - yes, sadly crazy
!
The movie begins and a few action scenes later, I whisper,
"hmm...interesting". Then the moment comes when our cop Tommy Lee Jones
meets the cheerleaders and try to get some clues from them about the
convict. Those scenes are naughty yet quite funny. Then we have Tommy
gradually falling in love with one of the high school teachers, Anne
Archer where one of the cheerleaders study. Those romantic scenes are
fair enough. And the scene towards the end where Tommy encounters the
baddie can be rated okay too. But our storywriters didn't have enough.
They wanted more and made up a climax that quite truly spoiled the fun
of every scene before it. I am talking about the very last moment in
the movie involving actor Percy Stevens at a church just after
a certain marriage ceremony. So stupid! I would have rated the movie
'Fair' if not for that. Now I cant help ranting 'Mediocre'.......
And
there were some other moments in the movie that could have been done
without. An entire 10 mintutes or so was wasted showing an air
conditioner being installed by crane at the girls' house, a "brilliant
idea" from Tommy for what reason? Tommy fixes the air conditioner and
turns up the cold just to teach our cheerleading girls to not wear
revealing clothes! You tell me if that was the best idea the writers
could think of...
But wait...there was some light amidst such darkness.
The cheerleaders act spunky, vivacious, naughty and are, in short, a treat to watch.
Tommy Lee Jones is good as expected of him. And Anne Archer
is another adorable actress. But as I said earlier, they must be biting
their lower lip with regret for involving in a movie that didn't make
much sense to any after 100mins of viewing time.
Some trivia (imdb.com)
~ Is the first movie allowed to use the full and actual name of the University of Texas at Austin.
~ While filming a chase scene, a bus ended up rolling over a camera and crushing it.
~ This film was originally entitled "Cheer Up".(still it wouldn't have cheered me up!).
~
The pistol used by Tommy Lee Jones is not a prop, it is his own Colt
1911 that he brought to the set after refusing to use the prop gun.
Director - Stephen Herek
Year - 2005 (this was another shocker! I would have understood if Tommy was in such inane movie 15yrs ago but now...)
Starring - Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Archer, the cheerleading actresses (no point showing their names here...)
Verdict ~ let me rephrase the tagline of the movie. Protecting the witnesses is possible. Living with them is also possible. But to watch this movie? now, THAT's a challenge ! R.I.P....
