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Inspired casting makes the buddy comedy The Man tower above its cliched plot. As no-nonsense Detroit cop Derrick Vann, Samuel L. Jackson is all serious business.
Vann has to find out who his dead partner helped to steal arms from the police department. Vann has only 24 hours to set things right before he himself is implicated in the crime. That would be hard enough, but Vann finds he has to work with Andy Fiddler (Eugene Levy).
Andy is no rookie cop, but a dentist visiting Detroit for a convention who is mistaken for an international arms dealer.
There's no way the villainous Joey Trent (Luke Goss) would ever actually mistake Levy's dentist for an arms dealer but that's what makes The Man a comedy and not a gritty crime drama.
Jackson and Levy's odd couple pairing ranks right up there with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau from The Odd Couple and, like those famous mismatched buddies, Jackson and Levy's bickering is hilarious.
Jackson is all stares and clenched teeth while Levy is pure motor mouth.
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The movie is consistently funny because, no matter what Levy says or does, Jackson plays it straight.
Had Jackson gone for the big laughs or slipped out of character the movie would have crumbled.
Instead, he allows Levy to make fun, not just of Vann but of Jackson's own well-earned screen image.
In one riotous scene, Andy treats Vann like a lackey to show Trent who really is the boss.
Watching Vann take the abuse is a highlight in a film filled with great comic moments.
With the exception of Trent, the supporting characters are little more than set dressing.
They are caricatures out of any cop drama, serious or comic.
Les Mayfield directs with an assured hand, balancing the drama and comedy because people do die and cars get smashed while Levy wanders blithely through the chaos causing more of his own. He also keeps the action moving and has edited his film to a lean 90 minutes of thrills and laughs.
Jackson and Levy are so funny together they leave you hoping this is not the last time Vann and Andy will team up.
(This film is rated PG)