The Tuxedo (2002) starring Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, Debi Mazar directed by Kevin Donovan Movie Review

The Tuxedo (2002)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Jackie Chan in The Tuxedo (2002)

More of a Donkey Jacket

Cab driver Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) finds himself moving up in the world when a woman called Steena (Debi Mazar) hires him to be the chauffeur for Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs), who is not only a smooth operating multimillionaire but also a secret agent. Devlin's skills come from a special tuxedo which he keeps locked up so no one else can wear it. But when Devlin is injured by a skateboard bomb Jimmy goes to get his stuff and tries on the tuxedo which turns him in to a smooth operating super agent. Before he knows it Jimmy has been paired up with agent Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) on the case of some evil genius seeking to tamper with the world's water supply.

When "The Tuxedo" started I immediately feared the worse with a scene featuring a deer urinating in a stream which felt like it was an off cut from "Freddy Got Fingered", yes it was that bad. Now whilst "The Tuxedo" doesn't fall to that moronic level again it does get incredibly stupid for anyone over the age of 15 and in truth hard work because it doesn't deliver what you want from a Jackie Chan movie.

Jennifer Love Hewitt in The Tuxedo (2002)

So what is wrong with "The Tuxedo" then? Well whilst it isn't totally moronic the humour is incredibly stupid with gags ranging from Jimmy's spy watch making him dance like a maniac to agent Del Blaine accepting that Jimmy is Devlin. I suppose if I was a thirteen year old this sort of humour would be amusing especially the various gags surrounding the powers of the Tuxedo to turn its wearer into an expert anything, right down to performing like James Brown, but for grown ups the humour is weak. And to be honest so is the storyline which intentionally is trying to spoof Bond with an evil genius intent on world domination but with his plans being to dehydrate the world's water supply it is just stupid.

But for me the most disappointing thing is not once does "The Tuxedo" deliver the real magic of Jackie Chan delivering action comedy. Oh there is action and comedy but there is also lots of editing and special effects which deny audiences what they want to see. Maybe it was Chan himself who wanted to change things as after a life of stunt work his body must have had issues but it simply fails to create the real Jackie Chan style which audiences crave. And as for Jennifer Love Hewitt, well sadly she plays one of the most annoying characters ever.

What this all boils down to is that "The Tuxedo" is a miss for me when it comes to being a Jackie Chan movie as it doesn't deliver the action comedy which audiences want. But it is also incredibly stupid to the point that it is frequently annoying.


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