|
The Whole
Ten Yards
Amanda
Peet does not appear nude in The Whole Ten Yards, the
sequel to The Whole Nine Yards (a film she did appear
nude in.)
I just
wanted to let you know.
Oh, still
reading?
The
Whole Nine Yards was my pick for best comedy of 2000.
It was a simple film that attracted big name stars because
of the cleverness and enjoyable plotline about a suburban
dentist whose new neighbor is a contract killer. It had good
laughs, good timing and the aforementioned Amanda Peet privates.
If you've
forgotten what happened in Nine Yards, I'll review
it now, because Ten Yards assumes you already know
who everyone is and their relationship to the other characters.
Nicholas
'Oz' Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is trapped in a loveless marriage
to Rosanna Arquette. When Oz learns his new neighbor is Jimmy
'The Tulip' Tudeski, a Chicago hit--man hiding from his former
boss, he freaks. Oz's wife hatches a plot to get out of her
marriage and pay off her bills at the same time.
For the
next 90 minutes, Oz weaves his way through a comedy caper
that reveals his dental assistant Jill (Amanda Peet) had been
hired by his wife to kill him, falls in love with Jimmy's
ex-wife Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge), has a hand in the plot
to kill mob boss Janni Gogolak (Kevin Pollack) and eventually
fake Jimmy's death so Jimmy and Jill can live happily ever
after while Oz and Cynthia get their own happy ending.
Got it?
Good.
Armed
with the same cast but new script writer and director, Ten
Yards takes place a year later when Janni Gogolak's father,
Lazlo Gogolak (played by Kevin Pollack in heavy makeup) is
paroled from jail. He immediately gathers his Hungarian crime
family and charges them with the task of getting revenge on
Jimmy 'The Tulip'.
Since
Jimmy is in hiding, Lazlo seeks out Oz and tells him that
he is well aware Jimmy faked his death and takes Oz's wife
Cynthia hostage until Oz delivers Jimmy.
Another
comedy caper unfolds, but this caper isn't as interesting
and the comedy is forced. While there are laughs, they are
obvious ones like Willis and Perry in bed together, Willis
wearing bunny slippers or Perry taking prat falls.
The majority
of the blame goes to the new script writer. No time is taken
to establish the characters for people that didn't see the
first film nor to remind people that saw Nine Yards
why they liked the characters to begin with.
Director
Howard Deutch (director of Pretty in Pink and Some
Kind of Wonderful) isn't able to wrangle the film into
a coherent tale either. Scenes unfold rapid fire to hit the
laughs and quickly get out before a plot can be solidly laid
down which leaves the film a jumbled mess of obvious twists
and giggles in the end. Without a plot foundation for the
characters to interact with, they come off as one dimensional.
The cast
seems to be having the same fun they did in Nine Yards
without expending too much energy. Willis skates by on his usual
charm, while Perry slides his performance back a notch to remind
us why Friends' cast members don't often carry their
success to film.
Nine
Yards took Amanda Peet from the obscurity of the WB network
into mainstream movies with her quirky portrayal of Jill St.
Claire, but Peet can't recapture that likeability this time
around. Natasha Henstridge is fine in her role, but isn't
given much to do other than be the damsel in distress.
Kevin
Pollack flexes his character acting skills with his abusive
Hungarian Mr. Magoo impression, but falls into the trap of
telling a quantity of jokes rather than just the quality ones.
The
Whole Ten Yards is a classic example of going to the well
once too often, as it will only succeed in tarnishing the
enjoyability of Whole Nine Yards. A poor script and
mediocre everything else equal a ho-hum movie
Not even
a naked Amanda Peet could have saved this one.
Rating:
|
