| THE TUXEDO |
 2002 – USA
Director: Kevin Donovan
- Reviewed by Frankie
The plot involves Chan as a mild-mannered cab driver who gets a job with a mysterious billionaire. When his boss is injured in a cryptic accident, Chan is forced to take his place. It turns out the billionaire was a secret agent, and that the tuxedo of the title is a two-billion-dollar machine that performs every physical task (from disco to front kick) imaginable. Hewitt plays Chan's aforementioned sexy partner and together they attempt to stop a supervillain's plot for world domination. Hewitt and Chan actually don't make that bad a duo, but by now audiences will watch Chan with pretty much anyone. He's the most charming actor in Hollywood, and boyish as ever at age 48. Hewitt is an able player at comedy, she gets some great lines, but is mostly used for eye candy. The main fault of The Tuxedo is its horrible script that relies heavily on sexual jokes. Families be warned, the sex jokes are more explicit than the usual family-friendly Jackie Chan formula. Do we really need Chan fighting off a drunk nymphomaniac in a variety of compromising positions? No, we don't. While Jennifer Love Hewitt is gorgeous, the filmmakers felt a need for her to show extreme cleavage and do something sexual in nearly every shot. Both actors have more class than that. Of course the running joke is that in reality Chan doesn't need a special suit to do any of the spectacular physical actions he does in the movie. Why did the filmmakers feel computer-generated effects were necessary to make Jackie Chan do amazing things? He can do them by himself. That said, the effects are impressive, if underwhelming compared to what we've seen in other Jackie movies. Luckily, like all Chan films, the movie is entertaining. The villain's plan for taking over the world is quite clever, and there's an amusing cameo by James Brown, even if there's no visible artistic reason for his presence. Despite some laughs, there's not enough here for a recommendation. |
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Jackie Chan's management must have been thinking, "Well, we've paired him with a fast-talking stereotypical black man and a smarmy, overly-observant white guy, what can we do to top that?" Their answer? "Of course! A wisecracking, sexy woman that is one part kick butt and one part 'I broke a nail!'" Filling this role is singer/actress Jennifer Love Hewitt.
