The Man (2005)

By teaming up for the mismatched buddy comedy The Man, Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy have once again reinforced their reputations for taking each and every role they're offered. At least in this case, both actors are absolutely suited for their parts -- in fact, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing Derrick Vann, the short-tempered ATF agent, or Andy Fiddler, the loquacious dental equipment salesman. Perfect casting does not a perfect movie make, but The Man is better than it should have been, which is as much as anyone can hope for. Yes, there's a lot of humor about flatulence, cavity searches and getting shot in the butt, but Jackson and Levy embrace their parts enough to make the most of their odd-couple pairing. In particular, it's nice to see Levy's character portrayed as something other than a total doofus. It's an easy joke to make the painfully white guy in the glasses a coward and a blowhard, and while Andy Fiddler does display those traits to some degree, he's also reasonably courageous and perceptive. Derrick Vann is more of a one-dimensional Jacksonian character, with plenty of the badass yelling that's been Jackson's trademark since Pulp Fiction. His police skills are also questionable, but not because he bends the rules like rogue officers always do -- rather, he repeatedly and brazenly jeopardizes what should be a delicate undercover operation. (Most prominently: He gets on a bullhorn at a crowded intersection and bellows at a gathering of police officers for hampering a federal investigation). The Man wraps itself up in a scant 83 minutes, lending more credence to the notion that director Les Mayfield et al were just trying to get it out the door as quickly as possible. Still, even comedy snobs will probably find themselves laughing here and there. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide