MAN OF THE HOUSE

"You will have to prise the pompoms from our dead hands"

After inadvertently seeing the murder of a key witness, cheerleaders Anne (Milian), Teresa (Garcés), Evie (Keena), Heather (Ferlito) and Barb (Garner) are taken into protective custody by the Texas Rangers. Roland Sharp (Lee Jones) takes on the detail but his almost militaristic methods of protection don't go over well with the girls and his cover as assistant cheerleading coach really doesn't go over well with him either.

Once in a while a respected actor makes an error of judgement and appears in something that he or she would rather forget. For Tommy Lee Jones, this is one of those instances.

The premise of putting a hardened Texas Ranger in a house full of cheerleaders might have sounded like comic gold on paper but the realisation of 'Man of the House' is far from anything comedic. The whole film limps along from one cliché to another, constantly adding sugar until your teeth cannot handle anymore by the finale.

The clashing of generations and life choices has been the stalwart plot device of many a comedy over the years but very few have really stood out of the crowd. 'Man of the House' has only one redeeming feature, from a male prospective, and that is the beautiful cheerleaders. Without Christina Milian, Paula Garcés, Monica Keena, Vanessa Ferlito and Kelli Garner to look at there is absolutely nothing for the male audience member to enjoy. The rest of the film embarrassingly sees Tommy Lee Jones get in touch with his feminine side, as the girls show him how to treat a lady as he tries to woo Anne Archer's university professor character, Molly. This is comedy at its most basic and lacking in any realism, as Tommy Lee Jones's character looses his manliness without enough protests and far too easily.

On the plus side, Christina Milian, Paula Garcés, Monica Keena, Vanessa Ferlito and Kelli Garner are very watchable and do their best with the stereotypical roles they have been given. All the girls are a tad too clichéd, been rebellious, obsessed with all things girly and thinking that Cheerleading can change the world but this is how America would expect them to behave, so it isn't really their fault.

'Man of the House' is a very big negative blip on Tommy Lee Jones's career. Producing extremely average entertainment like this will never see he nominated for any awards again, never mind winning them. This is a film that only its target audience will enjoy and most of them will be off that cheerleading practice anyway.