Welcome to Mooseport Joe Somebody

Buy This Item Welcome to Mooseport Joe Somebody by 20th Century Fox  Available from Amazon  $9.99  on 11-15-2008     <p><i><b>Welcome to Mooseport</b></i>: <i>Welcome to Mooseport</i> is such a blandly likable comedy that your grandmother could watch it and wish for a little sex and violence to keep her awake. Perhaps the phenomenal popularity of TV's <i>Everybody Loves Raymond</i> made Ray Romano proceed too cautiously in selecting this small-town comedy as his film debut; without a live audience and an endless supply of punchy one-liners at his disposal, his domestic everyman persona seems a bit lost, ill-defined and uncertain how to respond when a former U.S. President (Gene Hackman) (1) moves to the quiet, jovial Maine burg of Mooseport, where Romano's the beloved plumber and hardware store proprietor; (2) proceeds to make moves on Ray's long-time girlfriend (Maura Tierney, from <i>ER</i>); and (3) runs against our ol' pal Ray in Mooseport's homespun mayoral election. Hackman's got some stellar support from Marcia Gay Harden and Rip Torn (and, to a lesser degree, Fred Savage), and Tierney's a pleasure as always, but director Donald Petrie (<i>Miss Congeniality</i>) can't spin gold from straw; Tom Schulman's screenplay aims to please everyone, draining the energy from what might, in other hands, have been a deliciously devious premise. There's such a thing as being "niced" to death, and <i>Welcome to Mooseport</i> is proof. --<i>Jeff Shannon</i></p> <p><i><b>Joe Somebody</b></i>: It's brains over brawn as Tim Allen reunites with <i>The Santa Clause</i> director John Pasquin for this amiable comedy about a devoted dad who almost lets his fists do the talking. After being humiliated by the office bully (played by <i>The Tick</i>'s Patrick Warburton), corporate nebbish Joe Scheffer (Allen) vows revenge. He becomes an office celebrity, taking kung fu lessons with a has-been action star (Jim Belushi) and preparing for a rematch against his tormentor. Kid stuff, to be sure, but <i>Joe Somebody</i> benefits from Allen's Everyman appeal, especially when he's getting his values adjusted by a caring colleague (Julie Bowen, from TV's <i>Ed</i>), or trying to make good with his daughter (Hayden Panettiere) and ex-wife (Kelly Lynch). The comedy is pure vanilla, and the good-guy lessons are learned with bland, family-fare efficiency, but the Allen-Bowen romance is gently engaging, and Allen's flair for slapstick doesn't go to waste. As a pacifist hero, this Joe is somebody to root for. --<i>Jeff Shannon</i></p> Reader Reviews I just love this movie. Gene Hackman and Ray Ramano is go great in this. It was not a big production movie but the script is great and the acting is wonderful.

Welcome to Mooseport Joe Somebody Available from Amazon Price: $9.99 Updated on 11-15-2008.

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