Classic Review: Man of the House (2005)

“Man of the House” stars Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Archer, Christina Milian, Monica Keena, Kelli Garner, Vanessa Ferlito, Paula Garces, and Cedric the Entertainer.  Released on February 25, 2005, the film is about a Texas Ranger who goes undercover as an assistant coach to protect a group of cheerleaders who have witnessed a murder.

The film is directed by Stephen Herek, who also directed films such as Critters, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Mighty Ducks, and the 1996 version of 101 Dalmatians.  When you’re a film critic and you have nothing else to do until the new releases come out this weekend, there’s only one way that can cure this type of boredom…by revisiting an old film from the DVD/Blu-ray collection.  I have plenty of films on DVD and Blu-ray that I either haven’t watched in a while or haven’t watched at all.  This film is the example of the latter.  I have no idea why my family and I got this movie in the first place.  I even actually forgot that it was released in theaters 12 years ago.  Now I know how it feels when we have certain films that are “forgettable”.  During its theatrical run, the film became a box office failure, earning over $21 million worldwide on a $40 million production budget, and was met with extremely bad reviews from critics.  If you want to know why I’m reviewing this film, well, let’s just say that I have nothing else better to do for tonight.  But if you haven’t seen it before and want to know my thoughts on it before watching it for yourself, then you came to the right person.  This was actually my first time viewing this film all the way through and, while it did have one or two good moments, I can see why the critical reviews weren’t that “cheerful”.  (Did I just make a cheerleader pun?)

Pros:
The performances were passable.  Tommy Lee Jones managed to keep things moving as Roland Sharp.

Cons:
The concept was executed poorly.

The humor was surprisingly unfunny or forced.

The story was bland and a bit predictable.

Weak screenplay.

Final thoughts: While its concept sounds fun on paper, “Man of the House” didn’t quite know how to take advantage of it.  As a result, it wound up being a poorly executed crime comedy that’s as strict as Tommy Lee Jones’ character.  Even Cedric the Entertainer and a bunch of hot cheerleaders weren’t enough to make it better.  If you like Tommy Lee Jones, then I would say it’s worth watching at least once.  Otherwise, it’s a forgettable comedy that lacks the “cheer” in cheerleading.

D-