It has been said by some that clothes make the man. Never was the phrase more appropriate than in the case of chauffer Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan), who finds his world taking a turn for the better when he turns in his cab to drive a Mercedes for the suave Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs).
Jimmy hopes that some of Devlin’s charm will rub off on him, and that he will eventually become suave with the ladies and a man whom others want to be. Despite being Jimmy’s boss, Devlin soon becomes his friend and adviser and tells him that he has what it takes to become the person he desires, and that one day, he will find the key to unleash his true potential.
Fate has a funny way of intervening in a person’s life, and Jimmy soon finds himself literally in his boss’s shoes when an attack leaves Devlin fighting for his life. It seems that Devlin is actually a top agent, and that he was getting close to stopping the plans of a diabolical water baron named Diedrich Banning (Ritchie Coster) who seeks to corner the world’s water supply by making his water the only drinkable water on the planet.
This of course is all unknown to Jimmy who soon become caught up in the game, as an item given to him by Devlin shortly after the accident, puts Jimmy in the tuxedo of his suave boss. The Tuxedo is actually a state of the art device that allows the wearer all manner of skills from sniping, fighting, singing, dancing, and super speed to name but a few. Jimmy soon finds himself assuming the role of Devlin and teaming up with sexy new agent Del Blaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt), to get to the bottom of the mystery and save the day.
Sure the plot is not going to win any points for originality, as we have seen the amateur assume the role of spy as recently as “XXX” and a few years back in “Gotcha” and “If Looks Could Kill”. However the magical ability of Chan turn this film around, as just when I thought this film was going to be a snoozing flop, Chan’s trademark mix of humor and action, combined with interesting choreography for the fight scenes started to turn this film around and make it fun. The characters of the film are of the stock variety as they are cardboard thin, lacking in depth and variety. While the movie has its fun points and Chan and Hewitt seem to be having a great time with one another, the magic that made the “Rush Hour “ series and other Chan films such hits seems to be missing, as this film seems to be lacking the Chan magic as the film never gets on track and grips the audience. My advice, see a matinee or wait for it on video.
2.5 stars out of 5
