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[Short Reviews]

JOE SOMEBODY

This limp disappointment of a film is as generic as its title. Tim Allen delivers an uninspired performance as Joe Scheffer, a doltish employee of a pharmaceutical company who makes deceptively heartwarming drug ads. He’s disliked by his co-workers, dissed by his ex-wife, Callie (Kelly Lynch), and patronized by his precocious daughter, Natalie (Hayden Panettiere) — could things get any worse for the corporate drone? Well, they do when he gets slapped around by a bully co-worker in front of Natalie on Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Joe hits bottom and is saved only by the company’s wellness coordinator, Meg (Julie Bowen), a perky blonde Meg Ryan wanna-be who crinkles her nose at him.

Should Joe fight his nemesis and thereby win back his honor? In training for the anticipated schoolyard rumble, under the guidance of has-been action-movie star Chuck (played, appropriately, by James Belushi), he comes into his own, earning a promotion, arousing renewed lust from Callie, and getting a date with Meg. Director John Pasquin would do better to stick to hoky sit-coms, where the buffer of laugh tracks, pat lines, and the half-hour length would save him from having to drag out a cheap arsenal of ball jokes for an interminable 90 minutes.

BY NINA WILLDORF

Issue Date: December 20 - 27, 2001

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