The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Jonathan Lynn

Writer (WGA):

Mitchell Kapner (written by)

Release Date:

18 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

In the heart of suburbia, a hit man with heart has just moved in.

Plot:

Nick is a struggling dentist in Canada. A new neighbor moves in, and he discovers that it is Jimmy "The Tulip" Teduski. His wife convinces him to go to Chicago and inform the mob boss who wants Jimmy dead.

Plot Keywords:

Black Humor | Volkswagen Beetle | Toyota Corolla | Attempted Suicide | Blow Job In Car

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Bruce Willis	...	Jimmy 'The Tulip' Tudeski
Matthew Perry	...	Nicholas 'Oz' Oseransky
Rosanna Arquette	...	Sophie Oseransky
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Franklin 'Frankie Figs' Figueroa
Natasha Henstridge	...	Cynthia Tudeski
Amanda Peet	...	Jill St. Claire
Kevin Pollak	...	Janni Pytor Gogolak
Harland Williams	...	Special Agent Steve Hanson
Carmen Ferland	...	Sophie's Mom (as Carmen Ferlan)
Serge Christianssens	...	Mr. Boulez
Renee Madeline Le Guerrier	...	Waitress (as Renée Madelaine Le Guerrier)
Jean-Guy Bouchard	...	Mover
Howard Bilerman	...	Dave Martin
Johnny Goar	...	Hungarian Hood
Deano Clavet	...	Polish Pug

Also Known As:

Nouveau voisin, Le (Canada: French title)
Bérgyilkos a szomszédom (Hungary) [hu]
FBI: Protezione testimoni (Italy) [it]
Falsas Aparências (Portugal) [pt]
Falsas apariencias (Spain) [es]
Full pakke (Norway) [no]
Keine halben Sachen (Germany) [de]
Koko potti (Finland) [fi]
Komsum bir katil (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Meu Vizinho Mafioso (Brazil) [pt]
Mi vecino, el asesino (Argentina) [es]
Mon voisin le tueur (France) [fr]
Ni fod under (Denmark) [da]
Oss torpeder emellan (Sweden) [sv]
Ubica mekog srca (Serbia) [sr]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English | French | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:18 | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Colombia:12 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Chicago Tribune - 435 N. Michigan Avenue, Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Franchise Pictures

Trivia:

Bruce Willis tried to contact Matthew Perry to get him to take part in the film while, unbeknownst to him, Perry was on vacation. After a few weeks of trying to get hold of him, Willis left the famous line, "I will chop off your legs, set fire to your house, and watch you drag..." on Perry's answer machine. They thought it was so funny that they included it on the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When they place Agent Hanson in Oz's dentist chair, Oz turns the agents head to the right. You see the actor's eyes roll as his head turns.

Quotes:

Oz: All right, maybe he won't come after us. Maybe he'll just let us go.
[Cynthia just looks at him]
Oz: All right, maybe I can talk with him, reason with him. I mean, we're friends now, right?
Cynthia: That's what Harry Lefkowitz thought.
Oz: What happened to Harry Lefkowitz?
[Cynthia just looks at him]
Oz: I don't want to know what happened to Harry Lefkowitz.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jack Black/Neil Young (#31.9)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Mon Paradis

Fun, light entertainment

I watched this one on the dish the other day, eager to see Montreal in a movie actually playing Montreal, as opposed to masquerading as New York or Chicago or some other city. Other than that, I really didn't know what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised in a few ways. Matthew Perry was playing his usual goofy character, as a result of total lack of any acting ability whatsoever. But Bruce Willis is always good, Amanda Peet stole the screen in almost every scene she was in, and the plot line was just quirky enough to be entertaining. Innovative and fresh, I found this film to be more creative than most of what's currently out in the theatres. It didn't have that formula imprint of so many Hollywood films (i.e. take the comedy formula off the shelf and cast it by Friday). I actually laughed out loud at a few moments.

The movie did go wrong in a couple of places. Being a Montrealer, I noticed a few things that most viewers might have missed. For instance that their obsession with Mayonnaise on hamburgers, which is integral to the plot, isn't based on any reality that I know of as I have yet to find a Montreal restaurant that puts mayonnaise on burgers. Rosanna Arquette's French accent is even worse than mine, even though it's supposedly her character's first language. Matthew Perry's love scenes with Natasha Henstridge are so ridiculously unrealistic, even the non-cynical will yawn. And the director seemed to have an obsession with pointing out Montreal landmarks, even if they had nothing to do with the plot.

Those are small things in the grand context of the movie, though. If you liked movies such as The Big Hit, this is very similar. It's not meant to be taken very seriously, so the plot turns are more for absurdity's sake than for any kind of buildup of suspense. Still, if you're looking for some lighter entertainment, it's a good choice.