The Tuxedo

Jackie Chan is becoming, if he isnt already, a film land legend. His films are their own genre, a fact that few actors today can claim. His story and his success is a thesis that I wont attempt here other than a short list of things about him:

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Integrated slapstick comedy and martial arts into film, circa 1980

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Performs all his own stunts and requires this of his cast

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Includes outtakes of his own failed stunts and accidents with his films

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Has broken his cheekbone, his ankle, most of his fingers, his nose 3 times and has a hole in his skull all from stunts.

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Had a fan club exceeding 10,000 at one point

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Speaks fluent French

Chan will reach age 50 next year, and he is still going strong, with four more unreleased films in the works. Counting these, he will have done 92 films.

Tuxedo follows Chans comedy-martial arts formula, except that the tuxedo rather than the character receives the credit for his wild stunts. The story line is simplistic, comic book action level, with powerful bad guys and a protagonist who, with the help of a partner, saves the world, or at least part of it. I thought the bad guys evil gimmick was clever and, just like the protagonist; I missed the clues in the name Walter Strider. The story has a weak beginning with a couple of misdirections that confuse the plot line. It also includes some car scenes that I thought dragged down the action rather than accelerated it.

The outtakes included at the end with the credits (and in the special features on the rental DVD) are worth watching for two reasons. Theyre funny and they give us incite into how much fun Chan has doing films. In fact, theres so much goofing around that neither Chan nor his sidekick, Jennifer Love Hewitt, can keep a straight face.

Hewitt plays Del Blaine, and I left the film impressed by her work. I remember her from her performance as the daughter in the mother-daughter con team in Heartbreakers (2002). Chans kind of comedy works best with dialogue between the two primary characters and she did her job in this film.

I cant take a steady diet of Chan films; theyre pretty silly. But the action moves fast, slapstick and martial arts make an interesting combo and there are some laughs along the way. I think its good therapy to watch one of these every once and a while just to lighten up.

Reviewed July 18, 2003