Chan stars in ‘The Tuxedo’

Starring in such films as “Rush Hour,” “Rush Hour 2″ and “Shanghai Noon” has made Jackie Chan a household name in America. Chan’s recent venture, “The Tuxedo,” wastes his talent.

Chan stars as Jimmy Tong, a skilled cab driver who despite the fact can weave in and out of big city traffic like a pro, lacks the confidence to ask out a salesgirl at a local art gallery. Due to his driving reputation, Tong is recruited by a government agency to serve as a chauffeur to spy Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs).

Devlin is then injured in an apparent murder attempt, and Tong must take over. He discovers the secret to Devlin’s suaveness is his technologically enhanced tuxedo. Upon discovering this, Tong puts the tuxedo on and instantly transforms from insecure driver to the sophisticated super spy.

Paired with scientist Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Tong sets out to stop bottled-water tycoon Diedrich Banning (Ritchie Coster) from accomplishing world domination. Banning plans to release dehydrating bacteria into the world’s water supply, while he himself would possess the only safe drinking water. In other words, everyone would be forced to buy his brand of bottled water.

This movie is simply not entertaining. The pairing of Chan and Hewitt just doesn’t seem to work. It’s almost like “Rush Hour” was re-created, but they forgot to cast Chris Tucker. Not only is Chan’s talent squandered, but also Hewitt comes off as annoying in the film.

The laughs in “The Tuxedo” are few and far between. The only scene that even makes this movie mildly interesting is Chan’s imitation of James Brown. The ending is predictable and boring.

Die hard Chan fans will still go see “The Tuxedo.” Everyone else should wait until it comes out on video – if you feel like wasting four bucks.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 11 2002. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry