|
| .. |
|
|
THE TUXEDO
Review by Ruth E. Ferguson
Stars:
Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, and Ritchie Coster
Director: Kevin Donovan
Audio: ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC],
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Surround [CC], ENGLISH: DTS 5.1 [CC], FRENCH: Dolby
Digital 5.1
Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Studio: Dreamworks
Features: See
Review
Length: 99 Minutes
Release Date: February 25, 2003
Film ***
Over
the last few years, Jackie Chan has had a great deal of success in American
comedies with the Shanghai and Rush Hour franchises.
Those films featured him as a sidekick to an American actor.
DreamWorks’ The Tuxedo offered Chan the opportunity to headline
a movie for a change. He is
partnered with Jennifer Love Hewitt to help protect the American water supply
from Diedrich Banning’s (Ritchie Coster) terrorist plot.
Jimmy
Tong is selected to be a chauffer for Charles Devlin, a spy, for $2,000 a month,
plus room and board. Of course,
Tong leaps at the chance, but once the ice is broken between Tong and Devlin an
assassination attempt leaves Tong to go undercover in Devlin’s place.
He is partnered with Del Blaine (Hewitt) who is on her first field
assignment and she initially believes Tong is Devlin.
But Tong’s true partner is Devlin’s tuxedo and watch.
When Tong or Devlin wear the suit with the touch of a button the wearer
is able to defy gravity, dance and sing like James Brown, beat up ten men
whatever they require to successfully complete the mission.
The
opening sequence at first glance is lovely, then off-putting until you get the
joke. The key to the film’s plot
is water, so first there is this beautiful waterfall and then an animal drinking
from the stream, suddenly the beast urinates in the stream, then you watch the
water flow through the process of becoming fresh from wherever bottled water.
The
Tuxedo was
tailored (pun intended) to fit Chan’s talents of light comedy and physical
skills. Chan has been quoted recently about the fact that has he
ages, 50 is looming, to sustain his career he must find success in films that do
not hinge totally on his martial arts capabilities. Hopefully, Chan will get another chance.
There is no particular chemistry between Chan and Hewitt, they closest
they come to chemistry is Hewitt pouting in moments of jealousy.
Video
***
The
film is shown in anamorphic
widescreen 1.85:1.
The transfer is crisp and clear with a low-key color scheme of grays and
blues in many scenes.
The audio track is fine…there are few times that it is a little unclear what Chan is saying, but then again, that is part of the charm of Chan’s films, so it is probably intended. Otherwise for a spy flick, it is comparatively quiet, just one or two explosions and they come through loud and clear. You have a choice of English tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround, DTS 5.1, or French Dolby Digital 5.1. You can also choose subtitles in Spanish or French.
The
extras include the standard trailer, deleted and extended scenes, cast bios, and
production notes. The HBO Tailor
Made for Jackie Chan discusses how this film was designed to highlight
Chan’s unique talents and showcase his humor in more than a sidekick role.
Hewitt discuss how Chan helped her with the fight scenes and she returned
the favor by helping him to learn to dance.
As with any Chan film, the outtakes are available and funny.
Summary:
