The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosanna Arquette, Kevin Pollak

Director: Jonathan Lynn

Time: 98 mins

Actors in TV shows often have trouble finding the same success on the big screen, and nowhere is this better illustrated than by examining the cast of the hit comedy Friends. Out of the six cast members, only Courtney Cox and Lisa Kudrow have done reasonably well when translating their talents to film. Cox was smart enough to be part of the Scream trilogy ensemble, while Kudrow was prominent in last year's Analyze This, a gangster comedy starring Billy Crystal and Robert de Niro. Now Matthew Perry weighs in with his own mobster comedy, assisted ably by a smirk-prevalent Bruce Willis. Though not as funny as Analyze This, the easy-going charm of Willis, the nervous pratfalls of Perry, and a scene-stealing performance from Amanda Peet drag this film out of a fairly dull first half and into pleasant but unremarkable comedy territory.

Perry is Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky, a dentist living in Montreal with his naggy Canadian wife, Sophie (Rosanna Arquette), and a large debt. Just when he thinks life could not be worse, he finds out his new neighbour is Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski (Willis), a former hitman for Janni Gogolack (Kevin Pollak), the Mafia boss he ratted on. When Sophie hears that Gogolack may be offering a reward for information relating to Jimmy, she urges Oz to visit Gogolack in Chicago and collect the reward. Once there, Oz runs into Frankie Figs (Michael Clarke Duncan), another hitman, as well as Gogolack and Cynthia Tudeski (Natasha Henstridge), Jimmy's beautiful wife. Meanwhile, back in Montreal, Oz's secretary Jill St Claire (Amanda Peet), a closet hitwoman-wannabe, learns that Jimmy is in town and pesters Oz to introduce them. Everything comes to a head when Gogolack arrives in Montreal determined to kill Jimmy, Jimmy wants to kill Gogolack and his own wife Cynthia in order to get his hands on a $10m bank account, and Oz's wife Sophie hires another man to kill Oz! Wo!

The Whole Nine Yards takes a while setting up its basic premise, which results in an unfunny first half hour. The humour picks up once Amanda Peet's character pops into the equation, and Perry becomes more and more nervous the deeper he finds he is involved in this gangland tit-for-tat. Director Lynn has had success with films like Nuns on the Run and the excellent My Cousin Vinny (as well as boo-boos like Sgt Bilko), and his restrained touch brings out the mirth in the many complicated situations in the middle of the film. The last fifteen minutes slows down again, however, starving the audience of the bright finish that was warranted after such a lengthy setup. Compare with Analyze This, which was funny throughout and had a hilarious denouement to cap the whole movie.

The performances are generally very good. Willis is all smirk and laid-back charm, while Perry parlays some of his Friends' Chandler Bing character into Oz. The Green Mile's Duncan turns in a funny (and very different) performance as a giant hitman, and Kevin Pollak hams it up as a Hungarian mobster who can't quite pronounce the letter w (or is it v?). The scene stealer is Peet, who lights up the screen once she reveals her desire to be a contract killer. Worst acting award goes to Rosanna Arquette - what sort of French accent was she trying to pull?

In the end, The Whole Nine Yards is a pleasant but ordinary comedy. The cast is good, but the uneven pacing lets them down. It's also good to see an American film set in Canada, a rare enough occurrence. For a better gangster comedy, however, see Analyze This.

(c) Joe Wong (11 November 2000)