The Whole Ten Yards

A fairly interminable sequel, The Whole Ten Yards follows Matthew Perry’s Oz Oseransky as he reluctantly enlists the help of Bruce Willis’ Jimmy Tudeski after his wife (Natasha Henstridge’s Cynthia) is kidnapped by a feared mob boss (Kevin Pollak’s Lazlo). It’s clear immediately that The Whole Ten Yards‘ biggest problem is its ongoing emphasis on unreasonably broad performances and bits of comedy, as filmmaker Howard Deutch delivers a relentlessly over-the-top comedy that suffers from a distinct (and disastrous) absence of laughs through its often endless running time – with Perry and Pollak’s unreasonably larger-than-life work here merely the tip of the iceberg in terms of the picture’s lackluster elements. There is, as such, never a point at which one is able to muster up an ounce of interest in or sympathy for the various protagonists’ continuing exploits, and it doesn’t help, certainly, that scripter George Gallo stresses the excessively tedious relationship drama between Willis and Amanda Peet’s respective character. (This subplot is just so aggressively dull and pointless.) By the time the exhaustingly frenetic third act rolls around, The Whole Ten Yards has undoubtedly cemented its place as an ineffective, unnecessary followup to a mediocre piece of work.

*1/2 out of ****