After his secret agent boss ends up in a coma, a chauffeur must don
a high-tech tuxedo in order to stop a plot to poison the world's water. ACTION/COMEDY
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The Tuxedo (2002)Directed by Kevin Donovan
Written by Michael J. Wilson and Michael Leeson Starring Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, Ritchie Coster, Debi Mazar, Peter Stormare |
For some reason, I seem to have fond memories of watching this film as a child. Regrettably, The Tuxedo has not aged well and fails to appeal to anybody outside of little kids. With poor writing, a generic villain, and a super unlikable sidekick, even Jackie Chan couldn't save this movie from fading into action-comedy purgatory.
Chan does his best, attempting to save an already broken movie. At his side is Jennifer Love Hewitt, whose performance in this film reminded me that I didn't really like her. Her character is nothing but belligerent towards Chan's character Jimmy, doing nothing to help him out and doing everything to hinder him. She even gives the boring villain the super-suit in the third act for no apparent reason. While Jimmy is supposed to be the hapless agent, I find myself constantly wondering why she is even there. The Tuxedo did have some redeemable qualities, like the scenes between Chan and Jason Isaacs, who is ten pounds of suave in a five pound bag in this film. I must also praise Chan for his efforts in performing martial arts in a way that makes it look like the suit is doing it for him. Plus, the added cameo from the legendary James Brown was pretty neat. Still, there were few things to like about this film and it fell apart. The Tuxedo is an unfortunate scar on Jackie Chan's mostly impeccable filmography. |