Film Review - Whole Nine Yards, The

Let's face it, there haven't been that many fun movies in the past year. Hollywood is rather arid when it comes to ideas. I'm happy to say The Whole Nine Yards is a very fun movie that made me genuinely laugh a lot.

The premise is a hit man moves next door to a dentist. The dentist (Matthew Perry) is a very nervous fella. He hates his wife. He feels a lot of frustration with his life. The hit man moving in next door just amplifies his anxiety.

The hit man (Bruce Willis) is on the lam after ratting out a mob boss. He needs to kill off two others to collect $10 million. The hit man, the dentist's wife (who wants the dentist dead), and the mob shove this poor unsuspecting man through a week of hell.

What really works for me is Matthew Perry's physical comedy. Perry puts himself through the type of body blows we haven't seen much of since The Three Stooges. One memorable example is when Perry runs into a glass door, bounces off the door and slams into the ground, picks himself up, opens the door, and delivers his line. It's extremely funny, and you know it was extremely painful. Without Perry, this is a ho-hum film. Bruce Willis is playing everything cool, calm and collected; in other words, he plays the hit man role two-dimensionally.

Another real shiner in this film is Kevin Pollak. We've seen Pollak in many supporting roles. His portrayal of a younger mob boss is a big switch for him. This is a notable change in the type of characters Pollak has played and may broaden his career.

Screenwriter Mitchell Kapner put together a nicely twisted story with a lot of gags spread evenly throughout the piece. This is an above-average comedy screenplay.

The Whole Nine Yards is well worth your time. Thanks to Kapner, you probably won't figure out the end before you get there, and thanks to Perry, you're going to laugh your way through this ride.

No Suction!

Film Facts

Directed by Jonathan Lynn

Released in 2000

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewed by Mongo