Man of the House (2005/I)

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers (WGA):

John J. McLaughlin (story) &
Scott Lobdell (story) ...

Release Date:

25 February 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

Protecting witnesses is a challenge. Living with them is impossible.

Plot:

A Texas Ranger must protect a group of cheerleaders who have witnessed a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Box Office Flop | One Way Mirror | American Football | Cheerleader | Farce

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Ranger Roland Sharp
Cedric the Entertainer	...	Percy Stevens
Christina Milian	...	Anne
Paula Garcés	...	Teresa (as Paula Garces)
Monica Keena	...	Evie
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Heather
Kelli Garner	...	Barbara 'Barb' Thompson
Anne Archer	...	Professor Molly McCarthy
Brian Van Holt	...	Agent Eddie Zane
Shea Whigham	...	Ranger Holt
Terry Parks	...	Ranger Riggs
R. Lee Ermey	...	Captain Nichols
Paget Brewster	...	Binky
Shannon Marie Woodward	...	Emma Sharp
Liz Vassey	...	Maggie Swanson

Also Known As:

Cheer Up (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference.

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Argentina:13 | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-11 | Iceland:12 | Norway:11 | Australia:M | Ireland:12A | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

When Barb appears at the rear window of the school bus, her lips read, "It's me, Barb! Don't worry!"

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the bus turns over at the border you can see the smoke from the explosive cannon they use to flip the bus.

Quotes:

Teresa: We were about to go all Buffy on their gringo asses.

Movie Connections:

References "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Get Aboard / God Be with You

Formulaic, saved by Jones, Cedric

Tommy Lee Jones, one of my favorites, is type-cast as a Texas Ranger. Cedric is a minister with a criminal past, and the girls are just short of interchangeable bimbos. Anne Archer is thrown in to be a love interest for Tommy and does very little except smile sexily at the camera (which she does well... I also love Anne Archer). The storyline is very predictable, with few surprises. So why did I vote it 7/10? It's a comedy, the writing does rise here and there out of cliché, and the stars - Jones, in particular - have perfect timing. I watched the entire movie, laughed periodically (many's the recent comedy that gets no laughs), and, as one must, didn't take it too seriously. 99% of the pyrotechnics occur in the first ten minutes, and after that it's up to TLJ and the cast to keep it moving and, somehow, they do. With less interesting stars to work the lines this movie could easily drop to below 5...