The Tuxedo
Review
by : Gareth Von Kallenbach
Starring:
Jackie Chan, Jason Isaacs, Jennifer
Love Hewitt, Debi Mazar
Directed by: Kevin Donovan
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It has been said by some that clothes make the man. Never
was the phrase more appropriate than in the case of chauffer
Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan), who finds his world taking a turn
for the better when he turns in his cab to drive a Mercedes
for the suave Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs).
Jimmy
hopes that some of Devlin's charm will rub off on him, and
that he will eventually become suave with the ladies and a
man whom others want to be. Despite being Jimmy's boss, Devlin
soon becomes his friend and adviser and tells him that he
has what it takes to become the person he desires, and that
one day, he will find the key to unleash his true potential.
Fate has
a funny way of intervening in a person's life, and Jimmy soon
finds himself literally in his boss's shoes when an attack
leaves Devlin fighting for his life. It seems that Devlin
is actually a top agent, and that he was getting close to
stopping the plans of a diabolical water baron named Diedrich
Banning (Ritchie Coster) who seeks to corner the world's water
supply by making his water the only drinkable water on the
planet.
This of
course is all unknown to Jimmy who soon become caught up in
the game, as an item given to him by Devlin shortly after
the accident, puts Jimmy in the tuxedo of his suave boss.
The Tuxedo is actually a state of the art device that allows
the wearer all manner of skills from sniping, fighting, singing,
dancing, and super speed to name but a few. Jimmy soon finds
himself assuming the role of Devlin and teaming up with sexy
new agent Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), to get to the
bottom of the mystery and save the day.
Sure the
plot is not going to win any points for originality, as we
have seen the amateur assume the role of spy as recently as
"XXX" and a few years back in "Gotcha"
and "If Looks Could Kill". However the magical ability
of Chan turn this film around, as just when I thought this
film was going to be a snoozing flop, Chan's trademark mix
of humor and action, combined with interesting choreography
for the fight scenes started to turn this film around and
make it fun. The characters of the film are of the stock variety
as they are cardboard thin, lacking in depth and variety.
While the movie has its fun points and Chan and Hewitt seem
to be having a great time with one another, the magic that
made the "Rush Hour" series and other Chan films
such hits seems to be missing. This film seems to be lacking
the Chan magic as the film never gets on track and grips the
audience. My advice: see a matinee or wait for it on video.
Gareth
Von Kallenbach
Gareth@nwlink.com
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