Boy...this guy Shankman is the luckiest guy in Hollywood. Four hits in a row, despite the fact that he's an utterly incompetent filmmaker. "The Pacifier" is easily the most inept movie I've seen recently. I suppose you can place some of the blame on the script, but I think a better director, with the same material, could have easily come up with something at least fully coherent.
But...it's got a lot of nifty moments, particularly in the second half. Shankman is at least fair at directing actors; his problem is he has no idea how to put a movie together so that it adds up to more than a mishmash of scenes. This is my first experience with "The Vin" and he's just fine with this simple material. The kids are also fine, and I always enjoy Lauren Graham, who really needs to be working more. It's also a pleasure to see Faith Ford again; I hadn't seen her since her "Murphy Brown" days. And I guess Chris Potter is now the guy who gets the call when Mark Harmon's fee would blow the budget.
Nothing any normal adult should choose to see, but if your kids insist, you could do worse than this. Not a whole lot worse, mind you.
But...it's got a lot of nifty moments, particularly in the second half. Shankman is at least fair at directing actors; his problem is he has no idea how to put a movie together so that it adds up to more than a mishmash of scenes. This is my first experience with "The Vin" and he's just fine with this simple material. The kids are also fine, and I always enjoy Lauren Graham, who really needs to be working more. It's also a pleasure to see Faith Ford again; I hadn't seen her since her "Murphy Brown" days. And I guess Chris Potter is now the guy who gets the call when Mark Harmon's fee would blow the budget.
Nothing any normal adult should choose to see, but if your kids insist, you could do worse than this. Not a whole lot worse, mind you.