Movie Review: The Man (2005)

Synopsis: Wisconsin dental supply salesman Andy Fiddler is in Detroit for a convention. When he sits down at a diner with a copy of the USA Today, he is mistaken for ATF Agent Derrick Vann, who is trying to set up a sting, catch a gang of gun dealers who killed his partner and prove he isn't a dirty cop. Since the gun dealers now believe Fiddler is the wannabe buyer, Vann forces him to help with the operation. However, between Fiddler's resistance and his inability to stay quiet, it doesn't take long for Vann to realize it might be a mistake.

Who's in it? The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy, Miguel Ferrer, Susie Essman and Luke Goss.

Review: I ended up deciding to watch The Man with my wife yesterday evening mostly out of curiosity. The Jackson/Levy pairing seemed just unusual enough to at least give it a try. However, at the same time, I had lowered expectations because while Jackson can carry a film, I've found Levy's comedy tends to be better in small doses.

As a result of that, to say I was pleasantly surprised by this film would be an understatement.

The personality clash between Fiddler (Levy) and Vann (Jackson) works perfectly. Vann is a tough-as-nails veteran law enforcement officer who likes to bully suspects and use a lot of profanity. Fiddler is a family man with a relatively boring job and likes to think he can be friends with anyone as long as he has enough time (along with a meat allergy that led to quite a few surprising laughs).

I think the thing I liked best though was how Fiddler was kind of a wildcard throughout. Even when his task was something as simple as putting a paper bag of money in a garbage can, you never knew what kind of curveball he would end up throwing to mess that up or, in some cases, do something that made Vann's job easier.

There's also a pretty good mix of comedy styles throughout, both verbal and physical, to keep the film from becoming boring. And I'll even go as far as to admit the ending wasn't nearly as predictable as you would expect in a comedy movie.

All that said, the film was far from perfect, especially when it came to plot holes. For example, as my wife pointed out, if Fiddler's international arrest warrant (over mistakenly purchasing a stolen rug while in Turkey) was as important as so many people were making it out to be, it seems like it would be something that would have made it hard for him to get a plane ticket, especially just a few years after 9/11.

I also questioned why Fiddler was making so much effort to escape Vann's custody, even going as far as stealing Vann's car. While the first time, when he didn't know who Vann was, made a bit of sense, later attempts, when he was helping to avoid going to prison, just seemed dumb. What was his motivation at that point?

And don't even get me started on how stupid the bad guys had to be to believe Fiddler was a gun dealer. I'm willing to suspend belief for comedy films but this movie did ask for a lot at times. 

Final Opinion: It's not a movie you are going to want to spend a great deal of time thinking about as far as realism goes but as a comedy film, it did prove to be fun to watch and I don't regret my choice.

My Grade: B

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