The Man - DVD Review

Who is the coolest cat in movies? And who is the most awkward man-child on screen? It wouldn't take you long to get to one of the greatest bad ass motherf**kers in the history of film, Samuel L. Jackson and the current king of dorky comedy, Eugene Levy. So, pairing them up in a buddy movie (which one of the DVD featurettes implies happened when they ran into each other backstage at The Today Show), seems like a no-brainer. The problem comes when writers and directors think that the pairing will be funny enough that they don't actually take the time to write any jokes. "Just put them together and people are going to laugh!" Not quite. Yes, it's undeniably funny to hear Jules say that he's Jim's Dad's "bitch," but when the fart jokes kick in, you may feel a little sorry for the guy who once stepped into Shaft's over-sized shoes. They even go as far as to invoke Pulp Fiction with Jackson's character commenting on a "tasty burger," only reminding the audience how great Sam has been in the past. Jules or Shaft would shoot everyone in The Man and walk away. Hell, even Frozone would kick these guys in the ass.

If the concept of The Man makes you laugh, the movie's not going to disappoint you too much. It's what you expect, with a typically solid New Line DVD transfer, popping out in anamorphic widescreen that maintains the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The Man takes place mostly in daylight in the drab downtown Detroit streets and the picture stays crisp through out. There's very little use of the rear speakers in The Man's Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track but it's not the kind of film that demands it, with mostly just the soundtrack playing from behind your comfy chair.

New Line doesn't exactly give The Man the extended edition treatment and no one's coming back to talk about the movie, so commentaries or new featurettes are out of the question. But, they do provide some entertaining EPK-like featurettes including the funny "Samuel Jackson's Guide to Cursing Like a Bad Ass Motherf**ker," especially humorous considering the movie's rated PG-13. It shows you how much Sam got away with in a non-R action movie. He's turned it into an art. Featurettes like "Who's the Man" and a look at the classic car featured in the film are standard behind-the-scenes fare. Finally, The Man comes to town with a few deleted scenes, a bizarrely unfunny gag reel, and a handful of trailers.

Who's the man in Hollywood? For a while. at least, it was Samuel L. Jackson. From Jules to Shaft to his role in Jackie Brown, no one was cooler than Samuel L. Pairing him in a cop buddy movie with a comedic actor on a completely different planet of cool seems like something that you can't believe didn't happen years ago. Maybe if they had put a little more energy into the script, The Man would have launched Sam back up to the status of coolest cat in the room. As it is, it's not awful enough to put a dent in the armor of someone as hip as Jackson and it doesn't really change the career trajectory of Levy, an actor who seems like he'll take any comedy offered him (New York Minute, Dumb & Dumberer). The Man's good for a few laughs and should make hardcore Jackson fans smile. Or at least remind them who's the coolest, bad ass motherf**ker in Hollywood.