Â

Director: Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinny, Trial and Error, Sgt. Bilko)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Natasha Henstridge, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amanda Peet, Rosanna Arquette, and Kevin Pollak
Rating: R
Run Time: 103 minutesÂ

THE SKINNY
Tormented dentist gets mixed up with the hit man next door

THE BOTTOM LINE
Surprise! It’s actually funny.

THE FULL REVIEW
In a recent television interview with Larry King, Bruce Willis claimed that comedy is the most difficult form of acting. Well, in the surprisingly entertaining and even sometimes hilarious The Whole Nine Yards, Willis and the rest of the film’s eclectic cast make comedy look relatively effortless.

In The Whole Nine Yards, directed by Jonathan Lynn, Bruce Willis (Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys) plays the notorious Jimmy “The Tulip” Tudeski, a Chicago hit man who moves next door to a dentist named Nicholas “Oz” Oseransky, played by Matthew Perry (”Friends”, Three to Tango, Fools Rush In). Jimmy is hiding out from Janni Gogolak (Kevin Pollak - She’s All That, The Usual Suspects, Avalon), the head of a Chicago crime family, whom Jimmy ratted out to the FBI. Oz quickly becomes entangled in a web of plotted hits and adultery that may ironically be the only way he can escape the tormented life he lives with his wretched parasite of a wife.

Several of the films more humorous scenes work so well that they clearly suggest Lynn allowed for improvisation on the part of the actors (particularly Matthew Perry). This helped to enhance an already clever script, provided by screenwriter Mitchell Kapner.

Throughout the course of the film, Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry proved to be a highly amusing comic duo. Perry’s gift for physical comedy played extremely well off of Willis’ deadpan comedic style. Michael Clark Dunkan (The Green Mile, Bulworth), who also appeared with Willis in Armageddon, is perfectly cast as Gogolak strongman Frankie Figs. The versatile Rosanna Arquette (Hope Floats, Pulp Fiction, Desperately Seeking Susan) is more than convincing as Oz’s loathsome wife, Sophie Oseransky. Stepping up big time from her role on the WB television show “Jack and Jill,” is Amanda Peet, who plays the part of Oz’s enterprising dental receptionist to perfection.

I must admit, when I first saw the trailer for The Whole Nine Yards I had a fairly negative reaction. The film was yet another mob-related comedy AND it starred a “Friends” cast member. Perhaps it was my relatively low expectations of this film that enabled me to enjoy it so much. Expectations aside, The Whole Nine Yards just may turn out to be the sleeper hit of what is typically a slow time of year for movies.

Â

*Gratuitous moment: Amanda Peet briefly gives the men in the audience two more reasons to cheer the smart choice of casting of her in this film.

By: Craig Ettinger