The Man
New Line Cinema | Release Date: September 9, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
10
Negative:
14
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Who knew Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy would make such a dynamic comic duo? Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
An action buddy comedy is such an offbeat and inspired notion that it's impossible not to think of it without smiling. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Levy and Jackson save the day, and the film. The Man isn't great entertainment, but it contains enough laughter-provoking material to make it worth a look. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Both Jackson and Levy are better than director Les Mayfield's ("Blue Streak") meandering comedy. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
Functional if thoroughly uninspired movie. Because it clings to the comedy-action template of "48 Hrs.," pic feels like it could have been made 15 years ago. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
While nothing in the movie - least of all the two main performances - is especially fresh or original, it does have a few decent gags and amusing moments. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
Passable--just. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Les Mayfield doesn't know how to stage showdowns and chases so they're exciting or funny. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Laugh? Well, once. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Jackson and Levy strike only damp sparks off each other, and they seem to have been introduced to each other --without benefit of rehearsal -- mere moments before the director cried "Action!" Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The only characters in this formulaic crime comedy that I halfway liked were a couple of barely glimpsed wives, but the two leads keep it going through sheer determination. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
If it weren't for the running flatulence gag, the whole silly business might be mistaken for slight, clean, fast-moving fun. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
It's the kind of featherweight slot-filler people turn off after 15 minutes on a plane or have on in the background on cable while they vacuum the floor. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Nobody needed to make it, nobody needs to see it, Jackson and Levy are too successful to waste time with it. It plays less like a film than like a deal. Read full review
38
USA TodayMike Clark
In Roy Orbison terms, enduring this movie is like working for The Man. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The screenplay has no idea how to modulate the banter between the movie's talented stars so that it approximates affectionate and playful sparring. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Yet another screwed-up mess that will give audiences another excuse to shun the multiplexes this weekend. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Dreadful. Read full review
33
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Most of The Man is as awful as last year's debacle, "Taxi," yet Levy, stuck in a no-brainer variation on Billy Crystal's predicament in "Analyze This," shows just enough noodgy passive-aggression to suggest what the movie might have been were it not shackled to buddy-action clichés. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Unfortunately, The Man makes the mistake of assuming casting is all it takes to make a good comedy. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
In some ways, The Man plays like a sequel to some terrible movie that was mercifully destroyed before it was ever released. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Less a movie than a longform, live-action Celebrity Death Match between its leads, this wheezing comedy may herald the death knell of the interracial buddy-cop farce. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Arrives in theaters today with a sheet over its head and a tag on its toe. So to speak. What we have here is a complete systemic failure, a comedy that's not funny, with action that's not thrilling. Read full review
10
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
Fuu . . . cryin' out loud, this movie's dumb. Read full review
10
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Indeed, this is the very kind of lame-brained folly Levy and his SCTV cohorts used to mock on their old show; now it's how he makes rent. Read full review
10
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
I haven't seen such meaningful insight into the nature of human cooperation since this morning's "Sesame Street." Read full review
0
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
It's just awful. Pointless, lazy, derivative and paralyzingly dull. Read full review
More From This Movie

33 Critic Reviews

7.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL