ShangLuda Admirable film.

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Python Hyena Joe Somebody (2001): Dir: John Pasquin / Cast: Tim Allen, Julie Bowen, James Belushi, Patrick Warburton, Hayden Panettiere: Many viewers may relate to Joe's situation. It addresses the importance of people as individuals. Tim Allen stars as an advertising executive who takes his daughter to work with him only to discover that the company bully took his parking space. When he confronts the issue he is assaulted right in front of his daughter and co-workers. The bully is suspended but Allen is unable to face work again. His boss fears a lawsuit so he assigns Julie Bowen to bring him back. She wishes to get out of her job and become a guidance counselor. He decides to meet the bully again and is trained by a former stunt person. Setup works but it never avoids formula and its ending is too obvious. Third collaboration between director John Pasquin and Allen who previously made the inventive The Santa Clause and the inexcusable Jungle 2 Jungle. Allen holds his own right up until the predictable outcome. Bowen is flat as a potential romantic prop. James Belushi as the stunt person had potential but needs better material than this. Patrick Warburton plays the ever familiar low IQ office bully. Hayden Panettiere plays Joe's daughter and the role is predictable drivel. Strong theme of self worth and violence. Too bad the screenwriter didn't train as hard as Joe. Score: 4 ½ / 10

studioAT Tim Allen has since made some pretty dodgy films (Christmas with the Kranks,Wild Hogs) but here he is on top form in a comedy that manages to mix humour and heart.The first half in particular is actually very dramatic and allows Allen to play a character with more depth than I think he had previously. As an audience we really buy into Joe's story and want him to make his daughter proud.The second half falls back into being more of a standard Tim Allen comedy and is at times very funny. He has lovely chemistry with Julie Bowen and the gentle romance between the characters is one of the strengths of the film.The message about Joe having to fight his co-worker in order to get redemption is a bit questionable for a PG certificate but if you stick with this film during some of the slower sections you'll find yourself watching one of the best Tim Allen films to date.

Uriah43 "Joe Scheffer" (Tim Allen) works in a large corporation and is going through some tough times. Not only has his wife, "Callie Scheffer" (Kelly Lynch) left him for another man but to make things even more humiliating he is beaten up in the parking lot of his company in front of his young daughter, "Natalie Scheffer" (Hayden Panettiere) . Too ashamed to return to work he is visited by a corporate counselor by the name of "Meg Harper" (Julie Bowen) who inadvertently gives him the idea of challenging the corporate bully "Mark McKinney" (Patrick Warburton) into a rematch. Suddenly, he becomes the rising star in the company and his behavior changes accordingly. Anyway, although this film started off pretty good it didn't seem to add anything new or interesting after the first 15 minutes or so. It was like one long joke which just dragged on for 98 minutes and it got old quickly. And while I liked the performance of Julie Bowen and I certainly didn't think her presence or that of Kelly Lynch hurt the scenery in any way neither of them were able to elevate this film enough for me to rate it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

Spikeopath Here in the UK we have the famous BBC. With the BBC there's something that serious film lovers are aware of. Namely that BBC1 shows what are considered to be duff movies late at night during the working week. The reason for this is that children are in bed and so are the adults who have to get up in the morning, thus viewing figures are not of any great importance. And mainly, the BBC gets to fulfil it's showing quotas for film's they have the rights too but wish they hadn't. So when I saw that this Tim Allen starrer was showing at midnight on a Monday night, I didn't expect much other than an average time filler of a movie. So it proved.It's a safe parable piece about male egos, bullies and the reaction of others to violence. Hell there's even a little romance in there to make sure the piece stays on the warm side of the safe haven bed. Tim Allen turns in an engaging performance as the guy beat up in front of his young daughter who then gets some martial arts training with the intention of beating said attacker to a pulp. Once the word is out that he is going to fight this guy, everyone starts to react differently to him. Co-workers want to play squash with him, his ex now finds him sexy, you know, that sort of thing. Naturally the ending doesn't hold any great surprises, this is a message movie and its message is delivered with all the subtlety of a thunder storm. But it is watchable, family friendly stuff. Even if, when all is said and done, its vanishes quickly from the memory about two seconds after the credits have rolled. 4/10