cover

image courtesy of IMDB


Rating:

4.5


Year of release: 2002

Company: Dreamworks

Genre: action/comedy

Running time: 99 min.

Director: Kevin Donovan

Script: Michael Wilson, Michael Leeson

Action director: Bob Brown

Producers: Willie Chan, Solon So, Brandi Neuwirth

Cinematography: Stephen Windon

Editor: Craig Herring

Music: Christophe Beck, John Debney

Stars: Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, Debi Mazar, Ritchie Coster, Peter Stormare, Brad Allan

Rated PG-13 for violence and crude humor


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The Tuxedo

Tuxedo

Jackie Chan. Image courtesy of IMDB.

One of the things fans wondered about Jackie Chan's crossover to America was what he could do with large Hollywood budgets. If this US$60 million (thirty times the cost of Drunken Master 2) picture is any indication, then perhaps Chan is better off going back to Hong Kong or retiring outright. The Tuxedo isn't horrible, but there is nothing in here to really make it a "Jackie Chan film", something which even the over-rated Rush Hour at least accomplished.

The dopey plot (which it took five people to come up with) has Chan hired as a driver for a special agent (Jason Issacs). When the agent is incapacitated by a car bomb, Chan takes his place with the aid of a tuxedo that gives the wearer near-superhuman powers. Joining up with a young agent (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Chan attempts to solve the agent's last case, which involves a madman (Ritchie Coster) who wants to poison America's water supply.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly where The Tuxedo suffers, but ultimately I think it falls down to that too much of the movie seems forced. The action scenes are too heavily dependent on CGI. When you have arguably the world's best "natural" special effect in Jackie Chan, there's really no reason to have more people working on CGI in your film than stuntmen.

Tuxedo

Jennifer Love Hewitt. Image courtesy of IMDB.

The scenes lack the fluidity of Chan's best work. Unlike many recent action movies, it's not a case of bad MTV-style editing, but rather that there is too much stop-and-go. There is very little of the trademark Chan crazy combos of stunts and strikes; even when he faces talented fighters like Brad Allan, the results are even less than recent relatively anemic films like Gorgeous.

It doesn't help matters that the acting is pretty poor all-around. Jennifer Love Hewitt tries way too hard to make her lines funny; she does okay in the little action she is in, but she becomes extremely annoying by the end of the movie. Ritchie Coster does nothing besides deliver a generic "Eurotrash" villain role, and Jason Isaacs is unconvincing as a super-agent. Actually, Jackie Chan is the best actor in the whole film. He is really getting a good feel for English-language comedy, which is more subdued than his Hong Kong near-slapstick style.

But for how much charisma and charm he puts out, Chan can't save The Tuxedo from being anything other than average. He didn't even really have to be in the movie -- most any actor would have done about the same (supposedly, WWF wrestler The Rock was the producers' first choice). With several films on the horizon, Jackie Chan had re-capture some of his old "magic". Even though I went into The Tuxedo with low expectations, I was still disappointed. If middle-of-the-road pictures like this are going to be the way Chan chooses to end his career, maybe he should change his line of work -- the last thing the action movie world needs is yet another aging action star trying too hard to prove how tough he is, but alienating the fans who made him popular in the first place.

Tuxedo

Jackie Chan's protoge Brad Allan takes on his teacher. Image courtesy of IMDB.