I like Samuel L. Jackson. Really, I do. He has enough quality movies under his belt that whenever his name is attached to a film you can at least feel there is a semblance of hope that it'll be entertaining. Then there's "Twisted." And "xXx: State of the Union." And now "The Man," which, to my surprise, is the worst offense of them all.
It was Augustine who defined evil as "the absence of the good." Well, it's Johnny Betts who is defining "The Man" as the absence of the humor. It was troubling when the audience was expected to howl with uproarious laughter over Levy mispronouncing a foreign taxi driver's name as "Bedwetter" (spelled "Bedwettier" and pronounced "Bed-wet-tee-ay"). It was beginning to look hopeless once it was obvious that the director thought Levy's pants falling down was some sort of comedic pantheon. But it started to become downright insulting when Levy informed Jackson that "red meat doesn't agree with me" right before partaking of a "tasty burger," as Jackson called it (in a desperate attempt by the director to show us how clever he is by referencing "Pulp Fiction").
You see, immediately after Levy's pants accidentally fell down and 1/5th of the audience chuckled with glee, I turned to Stephanie and said, "How long before the fart jokes come?" I didn't have to wait long to see my prophecy fulfilled. As soon as Levy announced his red meat warning, I rolled my eyes and replied, "Here we go." And there we went, indeed. Welcome to the sure-fire sign that a writer is desperate to appeal to the lowest common denominator - flatulence. Throw in a joke later about peeing in a pool and the whole trailer park goes home happy. On a positive note - at least I didn't have to worry about tending to any busted guts.
I think it's fair to say you can accurately judge how unfunny a movie is when you're so desperate to awaken your brain that you decide to quantify the laughs that the movie manages to elicit. The ultimate condemnation of "The Man's" humor comes in the fact that my number of laughs equaled zero. You read that right - I managed to keep from laughing a single time during the 83-minute runtime.
Admittedly, there are a couple of funny moments where I reluctantly smiled, and if these scenes had been in another movie then I may have laughed, but by the time these brief respites from the humorless zone arrived I was already so bored into a stupor that I just didn't have it in me to even politely chuckle.
Note to writers: When you have a joke that isn't funny then believe me when I say that using this same joke throughout the movie isn't going to magically make it a laugh riot. A bad joke doesn't automatically become a side-splitter after it's used a certain number of times. I appreciate continuity but not in this case.
Welcome to my "Worst 5" of the year list, "The Man." And welcome to the AFAP (Anything For A Paycheck) Club, Mr. Jackson. I'm sure you and Ben Kingsley will become fast friends.
THE GIST
I'm completely aware that plenty of audience members were laughing during this movie, but "The Man" was possibly the unfunniest theatrically released "comedy" I have seen in at least 10 years. If for some strange reason the trailer looks absolutely hilarious to you then you may enjoy the movie, but I don't dare recommend this to anyone. I wouldn't even waste my time when it is eventually airing on the USA channel 2 times a day.
It was Augustine who defined evil as "the absence of the good." Well, it's Johnny Betts who is defining "The Man" as the absence of the humor. It was troubling when the audience was expected to howl with uproarious laughter over Levy mispronouncing a foreign taxi driver's name as "Bedwetter" (spelled "Bedwettier" and pronounced "Bed-wet-tee-ay"). It was beginning to look hopeless once it was obvious that the director thought Levy's pants falling down was some sort of comedic pantheon. But it started to become downright insulting when Levy informed Jackson that "red meat doesn't agree with me" right before partaking of a "tasty burger," as Jackson called it (in a desperate attempt by the director to show us how clever he is by referencing "Pulp Fiction").
You see, immediately after Levy's pants accidentally fell down and 1/5th of the audience chuckled with glee, I turned to Stephanie and said, "How long before the fart jokes come?" I didn't have to wait long to see my prophecy fulfilled. As soon as Levy announced his red meat warning, I rolled my eyes and replied, "Here we go." And there we went, indeed. Welcome to the sure-fire sign that a writer is desperate to appeal to the lowest common denominator - flatulence. Throw in a joke later about peeing in a pool and the whole trailer park goes home happy. On a positive note - at least I didn't have to worry about tending to any busted guts.
I think it's fair to say you can accurately judge how unfunny a movie is when you're so desperate to awaken your brain that you decide to quantify the laughs that the movie manages to elicit. The ultimate condemnation of "The Man's" humor comes in the fact that my number of laughs equaled zero. You read that right - I managed to keep from laughing a single time during the 83-minute runtime.
Admittedly, there are a couple of funny moments where I reluctantly smiled, and if these scenes had been in another movie then I may have laughed, but by the time these brief respites from the humorless zone arrived I was already so bored into a stupor that I just didn't have it in me to even politely chuckle.
Note to writers: When you have a joke that isn't funny then believe me when I say that using this same joke throughout the movie isn't going to magically make it a laugh riot. A bad joke doesn't automatically become a side-splitter after it's used a certain number of times. I appreciate continuity but not in this case.
Welcome to my "Worst 5" of the year list, "The Man." And welcome to the AFAP (Anything For A Paycheck) Club, Mr. Jackson. I'm sure you and Ben Kingsley will become fast friends.
THE GIST
I'm completely aware that plenty of audience members were laughing during this movie, but "The Man" was possibly the unfunniest theatrically released "comedy" I have seen in at least 10 years. If for some strange reason the trailer looks absolutely hilarious to you then you may enjoy the movie, but I don't dare recommend this to anyone. I wouldn't even waste my time when it is eventually airing on the USA channel 2 times a day.