"The Tuxedo" sucked. Really, it did. To give you an idea, it begins with a deer peeing in a stream. Then the opening credits start, and the movie begins. The deer peeing in the stream has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie. Then there's this other scene that's just as inexplicable. I can honestly tell you that if the scene was taken out completely, the movie wouldn't have suffered at all. In fact, it would have been an improvement because the movie woulda been shorter. The scene was totally pointless. The only reason that the scene was there was for a single moment that I think was intended to be funny, but wasn't. I wish I liked this movie, because I like Jackie Chan a lot. The guy is an amazing talent who combines the stylish martial arts of Bruce Lee with the comedic slapstick of Buster Keaton. When it comes to physical acting and physical comedy, Jackie Chan is one of the best. Unfortunately, the script for this movie was really horrible.
Just because I didn't like this movie, I don't think it's a complete disaster. I think kids will love it. It seems as though it was written for kids, and indeed, the humor is very juvenile. Still, no matter how much I dislike this movie, if kids really like it, it will make a lotta money, and I hope it does. I like Jackie Chan, and he's yet to have a really successful American film where he was front and center. "Shanghai Noon" did well, but that had Owen Wilson co-starring in it. Then, of course, there's "Rush Hour" and "Rush Hour 2," both of which were hugely successful, but those are totally Chris Tucker movies. Jackie Chan has yet to prove that he's big enough to open a movie, and hopefully, "The Tuxedo" will attract enough kids to show that he can. He's definitely doing better than Jet Li. I like Jet Li a lot, but he made a big mistake when he decided not to do the sequels to "The Matrix." If he was in those movies, he'da been the biggest Asian movie star in American history, even bigger than Bruce Lee. But instead, he starred in "Kiss of the Dragon" and "The One." Ugh. What was he thinking?
Jackie Chan was the star of this film, but he got some help from Jennifer Love Hewitt (from the TV show, "Party of Five"... she was also the star of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and it's sequel... she was also in "Heartbreakers," but I didn't see that), and I gotta tellya, she surprised me. She was working with awful material, but watching this movie, I realized that she has what it takes to be successful in movies. She's a very good actress, and she has an certain charm that can't be denied. She was working with terrible material, bad enough that I found myself cringing a couple of times, but despite that, she impressed me. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of movies she'll be in over the next few years.
Along with Jennifer Love Hewitt, I also liked Jason Isaacs (the main bad guy in "The Patriot"... he was also in "Black Hawk Down" and "Resident Evil"). While watching him, I realized that he'd be perfect as "Batman." Really, I can't think of anyone better. As "Batman" or "Bruce Wayne," he'd be awesome. Then there's Ritchie Coster (he had small roles in "15 Minutes," "Bait," and "The Thomas Crown Affair") as the villain. He was great, though a bit too much like the typical "world domination" type of villain. He can't be blamed for that, though.
Who can be blamed? Well, the director is a nice place to start. "The Tuxedo" was directed by Kevin Donovan (his feature film debut... he directed an award winning TV commercial for Molson Canadian called "The Rant," and it's statistically the most popular television commercial in Canadian history, though I have no idea how that sorta statistic can be tabulated). Aside from the two needless parts I described in the first paragraph, there's also this on scene that's shockingly bad. A conversation is taking place between two people, a guy and a girl. As it cuts back and forth between the guy and the girl, the girls eye colors change. At one point, they're blue (with the help of colored contacts), and then they're brown. Then her eyes are blue again, and then brown again. You can't miss it, it's really obvious. This director has some talent buried in there, but he needs to improve on the basics, ya know?
Then there's the writers. The story was by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi (they wrote "Crazy/Beautiful" together) and Michael J. Wilson (who helped write "Ice Age"). The screenplay was by Michael J. Wilson and Michael Leeson (wrote for lotsa TV in the 70s, including "Taxi," "Happy Days," "The Odd Couple," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and ""Love, American Style"... he also wrote the screenplay for "The War of the Roses"). The script was really awful, and there's not much more to say about that.
In the end, the only thing left to say is that the movie was horrible, but it was saved somewhat by likable performances and the martial arts/physical comedy that Jackie Chan is so good at.
Scale of 1-10: 3