The
Tuxedo, directed by Kevin Donovan, is a comedy
with very little fighting on the part of the forty-eight-year-old
martial artist Jackie Chan. The protagonist is James Tong
(played by Jackie Chan), and the main joke is that his pronunciation
of "James Tong" sounds like "James Bond."
Hilarity abounds, often slapstick, but there is a plot. Diedrich
Banning (played by Ritchie Coster) plans to become rich by
greatly increasing sales of his brand of bottled water. (Per
ounce, bottled water is more expensive than petroleum, we
are correctly informed early in the film.) To increase consumption,
Banning is hatching an insect that will enter the water supplies
of the world, thereby increasing dehydration and thus an increased
demand for water. Secret agent Clark Devlin (played by Jason
Isaacs), who at first appears to be the James Bond of the
film, is onto the nasty plot but needs to find where the insects
are being hatched. However, Banning seeks to eliminate Devlin
by bombing his limousine. When the film begins, one of Devlin's
assistants hires James Tong, a daredevil New York City taxicab
driver, to be his chauffeur. Soon, the car is bombed, Devlin
is hospitalized in critical condition, and he asks Tong to
carry on with the mission. When Tong puts on Devlin's special
tuxedo, he acquires extraordinary powers of various sorts,
from breakdancing to speedily assembling a rifle. The following
day, Tong gets a telephone call from Del Blaine (played by
Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has been assigned as his partner
in the quest to stop Banning. Blaine, however, is a novice;
she thinks that Tong is Devlin. Nevertheless, she has instructions
on where to go, who to see, and what to do. Tong tags along
at first, but soon takes charge of the assignment. The outcome
is predictable, but the film is exciting because of the crazy
means to the end. Of course, the best part consists of the
outtakes, which mostly feature Jennifer Love Hewitt cracking
up at expressions on Jackie Chan's cherubic face. MH
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