RATING:

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Eugene Levy, Miguel Ferrer, Luke Goss, Anthony Mackie, Susie Essman, Horatio Sanz, Rachel Crawford. Written by Jim Piddick, Margaret Oberman, Steve Carpenter. Directed by Les Mayfield.

Rated PG-13 for language, rude dialogue and some violence

Sam Jackson, one of the most intimidating actors in Hollywood, once again takes on a role as the bad-ass. He plays special agent Derrick Vann on the tough streets of Detroit. When his partner is killed in the line of duty, Sam is determined to find the people responsible.

Just when he thinks he’s close, Eugene Levy gets in the way. Eugene is in Detroit for a dental convention; he happens to grab lunch at a diner where he’s mistaken for an international gun dealer (by the people who Sam is after). Sam arrests Eugene thinking he’s involved in the trade; he quickly realizes Eugene is not ‘The Man.’ Now, it’s up to Sam and Eugene to work together to find out who these guys are.

Of course, it’s not that easy because Eugene is not that cooperative; he decides he’s the one who should be in charge. From there, it’s a back and forth debate between Sam and Eugene.

Some scenes with Sam and Eugene come across very funny – one being where Eugene has to be the ring-leader and make Sam call him his bitch. That’s probably one of the funniest scenes in the entire film. When Eugene orders a burger, his stomach becomes upset and they resort to fart jokes – funny, but not hilarious.

I thought Sam and Eugene worked very well together; they basically starred in every scene and played off each other. Sam’s car was more of an actor – he drove around in a 1980’s suped-up Chevy with special hydraulics. We asked Sam about his car and this is what he told us:

Samuel Jackson: “You know, Vann’s undercover most of the time in his work and so the things he has had to kind of reflect a certain life style. We had this argument for a while about the guns because the first gun deal was about $30, 000. I was like ‘What?’ That’s like $1 million dollars (in his best Dr. Evil impression) so he doesn’t always deal with international gun smugglers. Sometimes it’s gangs selling guns and he’s gotta relate to those guys, he’s gotta relate to Chinese gangsters, some Indian gangsters, to the international gun smugglers – guys who smuggle on every level. So he’s got to look a certain way and that car informs people about the world he comes from and the kind of world he inhabits. And since his divorce, his clothes are in that car, if you noticed they’re in the trunk. He doesn’t have a house anymore; she got the house, that car is his possession. It’s his radio, it’s his living space; he wants that car to be all he can be and it’s part of him.”

So you can tell, Sam took the part pretty seriously. They both did their homework; actually Eugene re-wrote the script to better fit his character. He talked about making up an entire speech about dental supplies:

Eugene Levy: “The reason I wrote the speech was because in the script, the only lines written were, ‘Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good night.’ They cut to the scene. It was the end of his speech that they cut to. I said ‘I think we have to hear more. I think we have to see and hear what is so important to this guy. He keeps talking about making his speech. He's got to make his speech. That I think we got to hear his speech. We have to hear what it is that's important to him in his work and in his life. So I got together with my dentist. He gave me some stuff to work with; I just wrote the little speech out. It all sounded kind of funny to me that these things are important to people. It's funny, when I talk to my own dentist and he puts a crown or cap or something, he just talks about how this is the best, this is the best cap or crown design; this is it. I'm thinking ‘Boy, can you imagine doing this every day?’”

Overall, if you like the acting styles of Eugene and Sam, I think you’ll like this film. If you’re not a fan of potty humor, this might not be the film for you.