When I saw this movie for the first time, I was just getting into Dice's comedy, so I guess my point of view was more biased. Plus, I was much younger and found it entertaining enough to watch a movie with a good deal of profanity and sex jokes. Naturally, I was also less critical of movies back then. I still like Dice's humor, and don't participate in the bandwagon of people who think he's the Antichrist. Reason why? I don't believe he really is the sexist pig he portrays himself as on stage, and his whole intention is to poke fun at the stereotypical Italian-American from Brooklyn who thinks he's hot stuff and believes he can treat any woman like a piece of meat. It's a cliche when someone says a celebrity is nice and sweet in real life, as opposed to the character he plays on the big or small screen, but with Dice I believe it's true. I mean, he's a married man with two children, and isn't even Italian--he's Jewish! I could understand why people would be offended by his material, but I feel I have more of an understanding of who he really is and as a result, don't take his profane and misogynistic comments seriously.
With all that said, I was disappointed watching this movie for the first time in about 5 years. First of all, I'm a firm believer that when a comedian stars in a movie, his job is to be a good actor first and then be funny. In Dice's case, he's a good comedian, but he definitely possesses very little acting talent. His trademark gestures and expressions that are amusing to watch on stage became annoying to watch on screen. I wasn't able to buy him as the character he was portraying. All I saw was Dice for 95 minutes! Not Ford Fairlane. So when I criticize comedians-turned-actors like Mike Epps, I'm not just being prejudice against them because I don't find them funny, but because they're simply not good actors--and when they're not funny, it makes matters worse.
I was still able to get a few chuckles here and there, and during the first 20-minutes-or-so, I found myself imitating Dice's expressions. But after a while, the welcome was worn out. There are other actors in the cast who possess more talent, like Ed O'Neill and Robert Englund. Even Wayne Newton showed that he can be a fairly natural actor. Unfortunately, their roles are small and moderately thankless (even though I liked Gilbert Gottfried's cameo), and to be totally honest this isn't much more than a star vehicle for Dice. Judging by the poor box office, I guess it was proven that he's better on stage than screen. I enjoyed him in certain supporting roles like the one he played in "One Night in McCool's," but he certainly isn't star material.
It also kind of bothered me that all the women in the film were portrayed as either ditzes, villains or sex objects. Plus, the film gets plot-heavy at times, which doesn't help since the plot isn't all that interesting. However, if you decide to buy or rent the DVD, it contains a good commentary by director Renny Harlin.
My score: 5 (out of 10)
With all that said, I was disappointed watching this movie for the first time in about 5 years. First of all, I'm a firm believer that when a comedian stars in a movie, his job is to be a good actor first and then be funny. In Dice's case, he's a good comedian, but he definitely possesses very little acting talent. His trademark gestures and expressions that are amusing to watch on stage became annoying to watch on screen. I wasn't able to buy him as the character he was portraying. All I saw was Dice for 95 minutes! Not Ford Fairlane. So when I criticize comedians-turned-actors like Mike Epps, I'm not just being prejudice against them because I don't find them funny, but because they're simply not good actors--and when they're not funny, it makes matters worse.
I was still able to get a few chuckles here and there, and during the first 20-minutes-or-so, I found myself imitating Dice's expressions. But after a while, the welcome was worn out. There are other actors in the cast who possess more talent, like Ed O'Neill and Robert Englund. Even Wayne Newton showed that he can be a fairly natural actor. Unfortunately, their roles are small and moderately thankless (even though I liked Gilbert Gottfried's cameo), and to be totally honest this isn't much more than a star vehicle for Dice. Judging by the poor box office, I guess it was proven that he's better on stage than screen. I enjoyed him in certain supporting roles like the one he played in "One Night in McCool's," but he certainly isn't star material.
It also kind of bothered me that all the women in the film were portrayed as either ditzes, villains or sex objects. Plus, the film gets plot-heavy at times, which doesn't help since the plot isn't all that interesting. However, if you decide to buy or rent the DVD, it contains a good commentary by director Renny Harlin.
My score: 5 (out of 10)