The Ladies Man (2000)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Reginald Hudlin

Writers (WGA):

Tim Meadows (written by) &
Dennis McNicholas (written by) ...

Release Date:

13 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He's cool. He's clean. He's a love machine.

Plot:

The Saturday Night Live character gets a big screen treatment.

Plot Keywords:

Saturday Night Live | Tattoo | Radio | Jealousy | Pasties

Cast

Tim Meadows	...	Leon Phelps
Karyn Parsons	...	Julie Simmons
Billy Dee Williams	...	Lester
John Witherspoon	...	Scrap Iron
Jill Talley	...	Candy
Lee Evans	...	Barney
Will Ferrell	...	Lance DeLune
Sofia Milos	...	Cheryl
Eugene Levy	...	Bucky Kent
David Huband	...	Frank
Jammer	...	Wrestler
Ken Hudson Campbell	...	Hal (as Ken Campbell)
Kevin McDonald	...	Mail Man
Tamala Jones	...	Theresa
Julianne Moore	...	Audrey

Also Known As:

The Ladies' Man (UK)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:M18 | USA:R (certificate #37696) | Norway:15 (TV rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | France:U | Germany:16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

SNL Studios

Quotes:

Leon Phelps: My name is Leon Phelps, and to those of you that are uninitiated, I am an expert in the ways of love. I have made love to many fine ladies from the lowliest bus station skank to the classiest most sophisticated, educated, debutant, high society... bus station skank.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Live from New York: The First 5 Years of Saturday Night Live (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Hallelujah Chorus

Another failed attempt for SNL

First of all, I'd like to say that I love the "Ladies' Man" sketch on SNL. I always laugh out loud at Tim Meadows' portrayal of Leon Phelps. However, there is a difference between an 8-minute sketch and a feature-length movie. Watching Leon doing his show and making obscene comments to his listeners and coming up with all sorts of segments for his show, like "The Ladies Man Presents..." which is reminiscent of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents..." is absolutely hilarious. There's a great episode where Cameron Diaz role-plays Monica Lewinski, and Leon plays Bill and they call it "The Oral Office." See, that's funny!!!

In the movie, we don't see Leon on the show too often. In fact, he gets kicked out of almost every radio station in the country. And the plot revolves around his quest for true love, involving a mystery letter that got dropped off at his houseboat, signed by "Sweet Thing." Karyn Parsons, who is famous for playing Hillary on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air," works with him on the show and has a secret crush on Leon. The movie just piles on one boring subplot after another. And the gags are boring as well. The first time we see Leon mention the word "wang" it's pretty funny. When he uses it over and over again, supposedly trying to get a laugh, the joke has run dry. Most of the jokes he uses in the film are jokes we heard before, and done better, on the SNL sketch and played out tediously for a whole hour and twenty-five minutes. They even try to insert a musical number by Will Ferrell and his gang of Ladies' Man haters, who all want to destroy him because their wives had an affair with him, to bring some life into this witless comedy. Ferrell has some funny moments, and tries to make the best out of an otherwise unfunny role. Ferrell just has that unique comic talent, and he's funny at almost anything he does. Even Julianne Moore gets a cameo. Watching her, you can't but wonder "What the hell is an Oscar-winning actress doing in this movie??!!!!" Her name wasn't mentioned in the opening credits--probably by her consent. And of course a movie of this theme has to include the Master of Love himself, Billy Dee Williams. Billy Dee is charismatic as always, but even he can't breathe enough life into this film. I also have to add that the soundtrack is full of soft R & B hits, which impairs the film even more, giving it a horribly downbeat tone--as if the script isn't boring enough. I mean, this is "supposed" to be a comedy. The soundtrack would've been appropriate for something like "Love Jones."

"The Ladies Man" only has sporadic laughs. There are exceptions in which SNL can produce a great movie out of a short sketch. Watch both of the "Wayne's World" movies, and you'll see how it's done. But this movie, just like adapting Mary Catherine Gallagher's character to screen in "Superstar," shows the flip side. Some sketches are meant to be remembered on SNL, and not on the silver screen.

My score: 3 (out of 10)