Movie Review
The Tuxedo
The Tuxedo poster
By Gareth Von Kallenbach     Published September 25, 2002
US Release: September 27, 2002

Directed by: Kevin Donovan
Starring: Jackie Chan , Jennifer Love Hewitt , Jason Isaacs

PG-13
Running Time: 99 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $50,279,000
Chan's trademark mix of humor and action...make it fun
It has been said by some that clothes make the man. Never was the phrase more appropriate than in the case of chauffer, Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan), who finds his world taking a turn for the better when he turns in his cab to drive a Mercedes for the suave Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs).
Jimmy hopes that some of Devlin's charm will rub off on him and that he will eventually become suave with the ladies, and a man whom others want to be. Despite being Jimmy's boss, Devlin soon becomes his friend and adviser and tells him that he has what it takes to become the person he desires and that one day he will find the key to unleash his true potential.
Fate has a funny way of intervening in a person's life, and Jimmy soon finds himself literally in his boss's shoes when an attack leaves Devlin fighting for his life. It seems that Devlin is actually a top agent and that he was getting close to stopping the plans of a diabolical water baron named Diedrich Banning (Ritchie Coster), who seeks to corner the world's water supply by making his water the only drinkable water on the planet.

This, of course, is all unknown to Jimmy, who soon becomes caught up in the game as an item given to him by Devlin shortly after the accident puts Jimmy in the tuxedo of his suave boss. The Tuxedo is actually a state-of the-art-device that allows the wearer all manner of skills from sniping, fighting, singing, dancing, and super speed to name but a few. Jimmy soon finds himself assuming the role of Devlin and teaming up with sexy new agent, Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), to get to the bottom of the mystery and save the day.

Sure, the plot is not going to win any points for originality as we have seen the amateur assume the role of spy as recently as "XXX", and a few years back in "Gotcha" and "If Looks Could Kill". However, the magical ability of Chan turned this film around, as just when I thought this movie was going to be a snoozing flop, Chan's trademark mix of humor and action combined with interesting choreography for the fight scenes started to turn Tuxedo around and make it fun. The characters are of the stock variety, as they are cardboard thin, lacking in depth and variety.

While the movie has its fun points and Chan and Hewitt seem to be having a great time with one another, the magic that made the "Rush Hour " series and other Chan films such hits seems to be missing, as The Tuxedo seems to be lacking the Chan magic - the film never gets on track and grips the audience. My advice is to see a matinee or wait for it on video.
Gareth's Grade:
Gareth's Overall Grading: 50 graded movies
A6.0%
B44.0%
C40.0%
D10.0%
F0.0%
Share, Bookmark