The Whole Ten Yards
Encyclopedia
The Whole Ten Yards is a 2004 American Comedy
film directed by Howard Deutch
and sequel to the 2000 film The Whole Nine Yards
. The film stars Bruce Willis
, Matthew Perry
, Amanda Peet
, Natasha Henstridge
, and Kevin Pollak
.
, retired hitman Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski (Bruce Willis
) now spends his days compulsively cleaning his house and perfecting his culinary skills with his wife, Jill (Amanda Peet
), a purported assassin who has yet to pull off a "clean" hit (everyone she is hired to kill dies in bizarre accidents before she can kill them). Oz, meanwhile, is now married to Jimmy's ex-wife Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge
) and has a dental practice in California, now expecting their first child, but the relationship is complicated due to Oz's over-excessive paranoia about security, as well as Cynthia's secret continued contact with Jimmy (Although Oz also talks with Jill on occasion).
Their lives are further complicated by the return of Lazlo
Gogolak (Kevin Pollak
), a father figure of Jimmy's who ran the mob that Jimmy was once a member of, Jimmy and Jill having killed his son, Janni, while Lazlo was in prison. Having deduced that Jimmy is still alive, Lazlo abducts Cynthia and threatens Oz to try and learn Jimmy's location, Oz only just managing to escape thanks to one of Lazlo's henchmen accidentally shooting out a light. With no other options, Oz contacts Jimmy and Jill for assistance, but Jimmy initially refuses to help until Lazlo's men attack the house after following Oz's car.
Having captured Lazlo's remaining son, Strabonitz (Strabo, for short), Jimmy tells Lazlo that he will trade Cynthia for Strabo, but the group's attempt to check into a hotel results in Oz unintentionally triggering further conflict between Jimmy and Jill when he reveals that Jimmy still wears a crucifix Cynthia gave him. Retreating to a bar to get drunk, Jimmy becomes increasingly depressed about his apparent failure to father a child with Jill, although Oz becomes frustrated when Jimmy starts discussing his and Cynthia's old sex life, culminating in them becoming so drunk that Oz and Jimmy wake up in the same bed (Although nothing happens).
Increasingly frustrated at her poor sex life with Jimmy, Jill attempts to seduce Oz, resulting in Jimmy walking in on them and knocking Oz out, subsequently regaining his passion for Jill and his work as the two proceed to have sex in the bathroom. While re-arming themselves at Oz's house, the three are attacked by an unknown marksman, whose attempts to shoot them result in Strabo being killed in the crossfire, the subsequent argument causing Jill to leave in frustration at Jimmy's insults of her capabilities and his cold dismissal of Oz. Increasingly driven to breaking point by recent events, Oz retreats to his practice, where Jimmy greets him to apologize for recent events, only for Oz's new receptionist Julie to chloroform Oz and Jimmy, revealing that she is the sister of 'Frankie Figgs', out for revenge for Oz and Jimmy's role in her brother's death.
Waking up with Cynthia and Jimmy in Lazlo's apartment, Oz is shocked to learn that the current situation has been part of a plan by Jimmy and Cynthia from the beginning so that Cynthia could find Lazlo's half of the first dollar he ever stole, which he had torn in half to be divided between Jimmy and Yanni when they were kids. Just as Lazlo is preparing to kill the three of them, Jill shows up, having set up Strabo's body so that he appears to be alive and tied up in her car, threatening to detonate explosives in her car unless Lazlo releases Oz and Cynthia. Claiming to want to join Lazlo's organization, Jill is ordered to shoot Jimmy, finally apparently shooting Jimmy in the heart when he informs her that she'll never be a successful hitter.
When Jill's car detonates when Lazlo's men go to release Strabo, it is revealed that Jill was in on the plan as well, having merely shot Jimmy with blanks. With Jules having been exposed as the shooter who killed Strabo, Lazlo shoots her, Jimmy subsequently having Jill shoot Lazlo in the foot, unable to kill the man who raised him. As the group depart, Jimmy and Cynthia reveal that the plan was set up to acquire Lazlo's half of the dollar, the combined dollar revealing the account number for a Gogalak account containing $280 million. With Jill having revealed that she is pregnant, the four drive away.
reported that 4% of critics gave the film positive reviews, calling it "A strained, laugh-free sequel, The Whole Ten Yards recycles its predecessor's cast and plot but not its wit or reason for being" , based on 110 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 24 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film directed by Howard Deutch
Howard Deutch
Howard Deutch is an American film director. His most recent theatrical release was My Best Friend's Girl, starring Jason Biggs, Kate Hudson, Dane Cook, and Alec Baldwin...
and sequel to the 2000 film The Whole Nine Yards
The Whole Nine Yards (film)
The Whole Nine Yards is a 2000 American adventure crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, starring Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan and Natasha Henstridge. The title derives from a popular expression possibly dating from World War II naval aviation which means...
. The film stars Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry (actor)
Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
, Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
, Natasha Henstridge
Natasha Henstridge
Natasha T. Henstridge is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable on-screen roles include Species, The Whole Nine Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, the TV series Eli Stone, and the Canadian TV mini-series Would Be Kings, for which she won the Gemini Award for...
, and Kevin Pollak
Kevin Pollak
Kevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, impressionist, game show host, and comedian. He started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 10 and touring professionally at the age of 20...
.
Plot
Thanks to falsified dental records supplied by his former neighbor Nicholas "Oz" Ozeransky (Matthew Perry)Matthew Perry (actor)
Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
, retired hitman Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski (Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
) now spends his days compulsively cleaning his house and perfecting his culinary skills with his wife, Jill (Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet
Amanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
), a purported assassin who has yet to pull off a "clean" hit (everyone she is hired to kill dies in bizarre accidents before she can kill them). Oz, meanwhile, is now married to Jimmy's ex-wife Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge
Natasha Henstridge
Natasha T. Henstridge is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable on-screen roles include Species, The Whole Nine Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, the TV series Eli Stone, and the Canadian TV mini-series Would Be Kings, for which she won the Gemini Award for...
) and has a dental practice in California, now expecting their first child, but the relationship is complicated due to Oz's over-excessive paranoia about security, as well as Cynthia's secret continued contact with Jimmy (Although Oz also talks with Jill on occasion).
Their lives are further complicated by the return of Lazlo
László
László is a Hungarian male given name and surname after Ladislaus I of Hungary. Other versions are Laszlo, Lazlo or Laszly and it is frequently translated as Leslie.The original Slavic Vladislav name meaning is 'power and glory'....
Gogolak (Kevin Pollak
Kevin Pollak
Kevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, impressionist, game show host, and comedian. He started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 10 and touring professionally at the age of 20...
), a father figure of Jimmy's who ran the mob that Jimmy was once a member of, Jimmy and Jill having killed his son, Janni, while Lazlo was in prison. Having deduced that Jimmy is still alive, Lazlo abducts Cynthia and threatens Oz to try and learn Jimmy's location, Oz only just managing to escape thanks to one of Lazlo's henchmen accidentally shooting out a light. With no other options, Oz contacts Jimmy and Jill for assistance, but Jimmy initially refuses to help until Lazlo's men attack the house after following Oz's car.
Having captured Lazlo's remaining son, Strabonitz (Strabo, for short), Jimmy tells Lazlo that he will trade Cynthia for Strabo, but the group's attempt to check into a hotel results in Oz unintentionally triggering further conflict between Jimmy and Jill when he reveals that Jimmy still wears a crucifix Cynthia gave him. Retreating to a bar to get drunk, Jimmy becomes increasingly depressed about his apparent failure to father a child with Jill, although Oz becomes frustrated when Jimmy starts discussing his and Cynthia's old sex life, culminating in them becoming so drunk that Oz and Jimmy wake up in the same bed (Although nothing happens).
Increasingly frustrated at her poor sex life with Jimmy, Jill attempts to seduce Oz, resulting in Jimmy walking in on them and knocking Oz out, subsequently regaining his passion for Jill and his work as the two proceed to have sex in the bathroom. While re-arming themselves at Oz's house, the three are attacked by an unknown marksman, whose attempts to shoot them result in Strabo being killed in the crossfire, the subsequent argument causing Jill to leave in frustration at Jimmy's insults of her capabilities and his cold dismissal of Oz. Increasingly driven to breaking point by recent events, Oz retreats to his practice, where Jimmy greets him to apologize for recent events, only for Oz's new receptionist Julie to chloroform Oz and Jimmy, revealing that she is the sister of 'Frankie Figgs', out for revenge for Oz and Jimmy's role in her brother's death.
Waking up with Cynthia and Jimmy in Lazlo's apartment, Oz is shocked to learn that the current situation has been part of a plan by Jimmy and Cynthia from the beginning so that Cynthia could find Lazlo's half of the first dollar he ever stole, which he had torn in half to be divided between Jimmy and Yanni when they were kids. Just as Lazlo is preparing to kill the three of them, Jill shows up, having set up Strabo's body so that he appears to be alive and tied up in her car, threatening to detonate explosives in her car unless Lazlo releases Oz and Cynthia. Claiming to want to join Lazlo's organization, Jill is ordered to shoot Jimmy, finally apparently shooting Jimmy in the heart when he informs her that she'll never be a successful hitter.
When Jill's car detonates when Lazlo's men go to release Strabo, it is revealed that Jill was in on the plan as well, having merely shot Jimmy with blanks. With Jules having been exposed as the shooter who killed Strabo, Lazlo shoots her, Jimmy subsequently having Jill shoot Lazlo in the foot, unable to kill the man who raised him. As the group depart, Jimmy and Cynthia reveal that the plan was set up to acquire Lazlo's half of the dollar, the combined dollar revealing the account number for a Gogalak account containing $280 million. With Jill having revealed that she is pregnant, the four drive away.
Cast
- Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski - Matthew PerryMatthew Perry (actor)Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
as Dr. Nicholas "Oz" Ozeransky - Amanda PeetAmanda PeetAmanda Peet is an American actress, who has appeared on film, stage, and television. After studying with Uta Hagen at Columbia University, Peet began her career in television commercials, and progressed to small roles on television, before making her film debut in 1995...
as Jill St. Claire - Kevin PollakKevin PollakKevin Elliot Pollak is an American actor, impressionist, game show host, and comedian. He started performing stand-up comedy at the age of 10 and touring professionally at the age of 20...
as Lazlo Gogolak - Natasha HenstridgeNatasha HenstridgeNatasha T. Henstridge is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable on-screen roles include Species, The Whole Nine Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, the TV series Eli Stone, and the Canadian TV mini-series Would Be Kings, for which she won the Gemini Award for...
as Cynthia Tudeski-Ozeransky - Frank CollisonFrank CollisonFrank Collison is an American actor known to television audiences as the hapless telegrapher Horace Bing in the series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.-Early life:...
as Strabo - Johnny Messner as Zevo
- Silas Weir MitchellSilas Weir Mitchell (actor)Silas Weir Mitchell is an American character actor known for playing disturbing or unstable characters.-Career:He has had recurring guest roles in the first season of 24 , My Name Is Earl , and Prison Break...
as Yermo - Tasha SmithTasha SmithTasha Smith is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous movies and plays.-Career:Smith is known for her role in Daddy's Little Girls, a Tyler Perry-directed movie, where she played the villain Jennifer...
as Jules "Julie" Figueroa - Elisa Gallay as Anya
- Tallulah Belle Willis as Buttercup Scout
- Johnny Williams as Vito
- George Zapata as Guy in Trunk #1
- Carlos Zapata as Guy in Trunk #2 (as Carlo Zapata)
- McNally Sagal as Maitre D'
Critics
The Whole Ten Yards was panned by critics and audiences alike. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 4% of critics gave the film positive reviews, calling it "A strained, laugh-free sequel, The Whole Ten Yards recycles its predecessor's cast and plot but not its wit or reason for being" , based on 110 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 24 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.