The Man (2005 film)

The Man is a 2005 American buddy cop comedy film starring Eugene Levy, Samuel L. Jackson, and Miguel Ferrer. The Man was directed by Les Mayfield and produced by Rob Fried, from a screenplay by Jim Piddock, Margaret Oberman and Stephen Carpenter, and based on a story by Piddock and Oberman. Filming took place in Toronto, Hamilton and Oakville, Ontario, Canada. New Line Cinema released The Man in Canada (through Alliance Atlantis) and the United States on September 9, 2005.

Andy Fiddler is preparing a speech for a dental convention in Detroit. Fiddler works for a dental supply company, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, in Detroit, a federal armory of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has been robbed of assault rifles, handguns and ammunition. An ATF agent was killed and Internal Affairs Agent Peters suspects the dead agent and his partner Agent Derrick Vann were in on the robbery. Vann, attempting to clear his name by setting up a buy, pays a visit to his informant Booty. Booty tells Vann to go to a diner, sit at counter seat, and have a copy of the newspaper USA Today so that the gun traffickers can recognize him as their next buyer. Unfortunately before Vann can start on the plan, Andy is already in the diner, sitting at the counter and he has a copy of USA Today. He is thus mistaken as a gun buyer by a menacing Englishman named Joey, who sits next to Andy and hands him a paper bag with "his taste" in it then leaves. The bag contains a cell phone and a Walther P99 pistol, which Andy accidentally pulls out. The waitress of the diner thinks that Andy is there to rob the place and panics. An arriving Vann arrests Andy, before realizing the gun trafficker's error. As Vann and Andy are driving through the city, the bag's cell phone rings and Joey demands Andy to meet him at a particular intersection and have $20,000 with him. Due to the interference of a bystander, the money exchange is compromised and Joey calls again to tell Andy to meet him at a different intersection. While heading to the new location, Andy tries to escape and Vann shoots after him, grazing him with a gunshot to the rear. Andy uses the cell phone to call the local police for help, resulting in the capture of both of them by arriving squad cars. The police releases Vann after learning that he is an ATF agent, but they discover there is an outstanding warrant for Andy. Andy once traveled with his family to Istanbul, Turkey and purchased a rug as a souvenir to take back home. But unaware to Andy, the rug was previously reported stolen, and he has had a warrant out for his arrest ever since for purchasing the stolen item. Due to the warrant, the ATF (specifically Vann's boss Lt. Rita Carbone) is suspicious of Andy and thinks he is an undercover Internal Affairs agent instead of an ordinary guy that was accidentally roped into the situation. Vann arranges the release of Andy and then tries to contact gun dealer Manny Cortez for help with the case. They travel to Manny's apartment and Vann goes inside alone to find Manny was murdered in his residence. Manny was recently killed by Joey for telling Joey that after hearing that the crew had killed a cop (Vann's ex partner), he did not want to be part of the transaction anymore. Vann and Andy then visit Booty for more information on who Joey and his crew truly are. Booty tells them that the main crew boss is a gentleman named Kane and right after, Andy receives another phone call from Joey, who now asks for $500,000 for the whole batch of weapons. Vann has Andy pose as a powerful trafficker for a meeting with Joey in a restaurant. Vann warns Andy that the $500,000 is strictly flash cash and to not give Joey any of the money. Andy almost screws up the meeting by accidentally calling Joey by name, but then demands that he wants to have a meeting with Kane. Joey tells Andy that Kane already has a deal in place to get money for the guns and that Kane won't cancel his current deal for a guy he's never met. Andy improvises the plan by giving Joey the entire $500,000 and returns the cell phone to Joey, telling him that their next meeting will be on his terms. Vann is enraged that Andy gave them the money but Andy explains that he felt Joey would walk away from the deal and that giving them the $500,000 would be a guarantee that Joey would continue to work with them. Andy and Vann eventually arrange a meeting with Joey where Joey reveals that he is "Kane". Vann admits to Joey that he is a cop and he tells Joey that he wants in on the gun trafficking business and that due to his ATF knowledge, he can move guns with no suspicion and take the heat off of Joey's crew from the inside. Due to having no other buyers after killing Manny Cortez earlier and desperate to get the guns off of his hands, Joey reluctantly accepts Vann's offer even with the risk of Vann being an ATF agent. The next day after delivering his speech, Andy is captured by Agent Peters who wants to use him against Vann. Peters claims that Vann is corrupt and that he is actually trying to buy the guns for himself. At the same time, back at ATF offices, Vann is being scrutinized by Lt. Carbone who calls Vann gullible for still thinking Andy isn't an IA agent and suspends him after telling him that Booty was found dead previously. Peters wants Andy to wear a wire and get a confession out of Vann that he was in on the gun heist and killed his ex partner. Vann is then shocked to see Andy there at ATF's office to talk to him (thinking that Andy was at a convention giving his speech). While the two men are driving to the exchange point to deliver the money to Joey, Vann accuses Andy of being an IA agent. This angers Andy, who immediately blows his cover by saying that he thinks Vann is corrupt and that he is the one who killed Booty. Vann and Andy enter the barn where the exchange is going to take place. This time Joey is skeptical of their motives and pulls a gun on Vann. Joey admits that he was the one that killed Vann's ex partner and then grabs Andy as hostage and demands Vann give him the money or else he'll kill Andy. Vann manages to shoot and kill Joey and a shootout ensues between Joey's henchmen and the backup law enforcement. After the gunfights, Joey's men are arrested and Vann gives the bag of $500,000 to Peters. Vann delivers Andy to the airport for his flight back to Milwaukee and the two men say goodbye.

In its opening weekend, The Man earned $4,065,014 in 2,040 theaters. Altogether, the film was a box office bomb, only earning $8,330,720 in the United States and Canada and $12,382,362 worldwide. The DVD was released on January 10, 2006.

The Man has received negative reviews from critics, many of whom wrote that the plot made no sense and its jokes were rehashed. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 12% based on 102 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Despite the steely presence of Samuel L. Jackson and the comic timing of Eugene Levy, The Mans plot is pointless and its jokes rehashed, as it ends up playing out like the Odd Couple with gas." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 33 out of 100, based on 27 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". The film received a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor (Eugene Levy). It also won the award for Less Than Dynamic Duo for Jackson and Levy at the 2005 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.