The Right Manny For The Job... "The Pacifier"

The Pacifier (2005)

Rated PG

Starring Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Max Thieriot, Carol Kane, Morgan York, Kegan & Logan Hoover

Directed by Adam Shankman

The Story:

Navy SEAL Shane Wolf (Diesel) is reassigned to protect the family of a scientist who died.  While the mom (Ford) goes with the Navy to attempt to find out what her husband left behind, Shane must babysit the kids (Snow, Thieriot, York and Hoover).  Naturally, his way of doing things, and the way the kids think things should be done are at odds.  However, bad guys are lurking and if the kids and Shane don't kill each other first, the bad guys might take them all out.

It's Uncle Buck meets Under Siege.

Actually, that's a pretty good description.

Vin Diesel struck out into family friendly territory with The Pacifier.
Much like The Rock, Disney took an action star and tried to turn him into a family friendly movie star.

In both cases, it pretty much worked.

Now, you can dislike this film (or any of the Rock's) all you want, but Disney succeeded with what they set out to do.

That the Tooth Fairy and The Pacifier teamed up in Fast Five for one of the most successful movies in the Fast & Furious franchise?

Full circle.

:)

I like films like this that allow action stars to broaden their career into comedy.  It's one of the muscles they usually only get to flex with a quick one-liner or a sarcastic dispatching of a villain.

If you can pull off broad, family friendly slapstick and walk away with your career intact, you're going to be somebody.

It doesn't hurt if you've got the charisma of Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson though.

:)

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Harmless fun for the whole family.  The kids love it, and it's an enjoyable film to revisit every so often.

I Would Like To Chop Down "The Family Tree"

The Family Tree (2011)

Rated R for language

Starring Dermot Mulroney, Hope Davis, Rachael Leigh Cook, Chi McBride, Max Thieriot, Britt Robertson

Directed by Vivi Friedman

The Story:

A dysfunctional family barely held together gets a second chance at life when the mom (Davis) develops amnesia and suddenly becomes a nice person, causing a ripple of change through the family dynamic.

Will it last?

Beats me.

I turned it off after 5 minutes.

Great cast, saddled with a horrible script that was just moving from point to point with no purpose whatsoever.

I usually try and stick a movie out for the full 20 to see if it has any hope of redemption, but this was a cast of characters I immediately didn't care for, and I didn't care if they learned any lesson at all.

I learned I could get about 90 minutes of my life back if I turned it off immediately.

Final Grade: F.  Only the 2nd F I've given this year, but the shortest time viewing a movie.  Congratulations!

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Seriously?

Twilight's Humble Beginnings.... "Catch That Kid"

Catch That Kid (2004)
Rated PG For Language

Starring Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer Beals

Directed by Bart Freundlich

Maddy (Stewart) loves to climb, just like her dad.  She's out climbing buildings, towers, whatever she can find.  However, her dad suffered an injury climbing Everest, and only a very expensive experimental surgery could save him.  Maddy figures she will enlist her two best buds (Bleu & Thieriot) and they will rob the bank where Maddy's mom (Beals) works installing a new security system.  They're only going to take enough to cover the operation, and Maddy swears she'll pay it back.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

Sorry, you knew it was coming.

So, looking over Stewart's credits, and this was one of her first roles for the girl that would grow up to drive all the vampires and werewolves batty.

Meh, I still don't see it.

But here, she's still just a kid, and the boys are enamored by her.

The boys, well Bleu grew up to move to High School Musical, and this was Thieriot's first movie, and he's gone on to many other films as well.

So not bad for the cast, all three have grown up to stay in the spotlight and they haven't lost their minds.

Yet.

Someday I Will Be Followed By The Supernatural!

The movie itself is cute enough, and employs a fun way to rob the bank that works to make an exciting final act to the film.

We had seen it once back in 2004, and I remembered that everyone had enjoyed it.

Picked it up from Blockbuster's going out of business sale and we gave it a spin.

Eh.

A decade later... while it was okay, it wasn't nearly as good as any of us had remembered.

No harm no foul though.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Well, I own it.  Time to put it in the vault, and we'll crack it open for the 20th anniversary. :)