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At the Movies: 'Man of the House'
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| © Revolution Studios |
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by Ryan Finn
Staff Writer
There is a good bit of heart and a few well-aimed moral messages in “Man of the House,” but they are defeated by the overwhelming vacuum of personality and originality in the movie.
“Man” gets just a few things right. It brings out the gravel voice and stoic humor in Tommy Lee Jones, who clearly doesn’t appear to care about anything that’s going on. It also knows when and when not to take something like cheerleading seriously.
The story doesn’t put forth any effort to be intriguing or complex. Roland Sharp (Jones) is a Texas Ranger assigned to protect a group of five female cheerleaders after they witness a cold-blooded murder in one of Sharp’s crucial cases. The best way to keep them safe? Why, move in with them of course!
Sharp is divorced, literally from his wife and emotionally from his daughter. He is good at his job but he doesn’t relish this new assignment, mostly because he hates cheerleading and thinks the girls are bubbleheads. Lo and behold, the girls may change his mind about cheerleading and might improve his family situation as well.
The girls all wear the kinds of clothes everyone expects them to wear, talk on cell phones incessantly and generally whine about whatever latest social signifier Sharp won’t let them do: shopping, partying, having visitors over, etc.
Did I mention that the director, writers and producers are all men? But you knew that, right? The situation they have crafted is probably realistic for our world, unfortunately, but that doesn’t make it smart or, primarily, funny.
The humor that travels from the girls to Sharp isn’t funny. Makeovers? Who cares?
What does work, however, is the humor that moves in the other direction. Tommy Lee Jones does his best to save face and get through the movie as fast as he can. He’s funny. He has a few great lines. His mannerisms and inflections truly make his character work.
When Jones looks at one of the girls and dryly says, “No, I don’t like you,” or “I hate cheerleading,” I laughed. I had to laugh. Almost single-handedly does Jones undermine the vivaciousness and electricity in the cheerleading world
Sharp and his team come up with a mnemonic device to remember the girls’ names: Heather (Vannessa Ferlito), Evie (Monica Keena), Barb (Kelli Garner), Anne (Christina Milian) and Therese (Paula Garces). That’s funny, but less so when you realize that the movie itself hardly cares to distinguish between them.
The girls are given broad traits. One is a workaholic A-student. One is street-wise and recently out of juvenile hall. One is a beauty-school dropout who is attracted to Sharp. One is the nymphomaniac of the group. One is the captain of the squad.
One is a giant bear. Wait, that’s more than five. Nevermind.
There is perfunctory romance and reconciliation for Sharp. There are the usual “tense” moments where the girls might get hurt. There is the action-packed chase scene at the climax. Jones is funny and there are a few good messages in the movie, but we’ve seen this time and time again.
I’m getting tired of disliking it.
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