studioAT Tim Allen was at the top of his game when he made 'The Santa Clause' back in 1994. Sadly 16 years later his last film to date as a leading man is poor.The idea behind the film is good and you certainly can't say that the cast isn't a good one, it's just that the film plods along as a snails pace and really isn't that funny. It's almost like Tim is trying to tick all the boxes to make a hit film and yet the magic spark isn't there.I applaud him for trying his hand at directing, but the fact that half the other actors in the film appeared with him in other more successful films only gives a sense that he was calling in favours.Even the DVD extras are a bit self congratulatory when you consider that Allen's company 'Boxing Cat' comes up right at the start.I like Tim Allen, I like his work. This just wasn't a good example of it.

Raul Faust Well, sadly I was lured to see this movie. Brazilian's synopsis stated it as a movie which the main character would go insane after leaving prison, since life outside is very hard as well-- not that much anyways. That plot would be much more interesting and related to my job-- I work with a criminal judge. However, the story didn't happen as I thought it would. Even thought the main character has some problems outside jail, I believed he would have so strong problems that he would wish to go back there. Tim Allen is a medium actor, we don't see a differential in his acting when comparing to other mainstream actors. The plot isn't contrived and has some creativity, but in the ends appeals to the old Hollywood cliché-- which makes the movie becomes very corny. All in all, some fun scenes aren't enough to make this movie a good one. Pass it.

gatsby0744 I watched this on DVD yesterday, and had low expectations going in. I had never heard of it before, but I liked Tim Allen's other movies. What a surprise-- I absolutely loved this movie and insisted on watching it over again with my wife.It's not really laugh out loud funny, but then again I laughed out loud anyway. Except for the two cons who work at Pirate burger (and maybe the manager there), none of the characters are one-dimensional, or even what you would expect (and the pirate burger employees are funny--they just have no depth).Here's the spoiler and my only regret. Sigourney Weaver's character (sister to Tim Allen's character) really wants what is best for her brother, but she tells lies (in her mind, "white lies") all through the movie, like the lie that Tommy (Tim Allen) has been in France for the past two years. In one scene that had me doing a spit-take, they are all seated at the family dinner table and Sigourney's husband (who knows where Tommy has been) asks Tommy if he expects to be returning to France, adding something like: "because you know, statistically, most people who have been to France, and get out, wind up going back to France." My one regret is that, at the very end of the movie, Jeanie Triplehorn's character lets the cat out of the bag rather than playing along with the whole "France" lie.Kelsey Grammar has a really funny small part, and Ray Liotta (who we expect to be his character from "Something Wild" comes across as having legitimate affection for Tommy, but is ultimately flawed and not good for Tommy. I loved the whole story line of how Tommy thinks he knows who he loves and what he wants, but comes to love someone else who actually values the life Tommy wants.My only question is this-- why wasn't this movie a bigger hit and why did it not have a better title?

sirgregoire I have never before reviewed a movie on IMDb (or anywhere for that matter), but after reading all of the negative reviews by critics as well as fellow IMDBers, I feel compelled to start speaking up. Frankly, I don't quite understand why everyone seems to passionately hate this movie so much. I saw an advanced screening of this and found myself laughing the whole way through. I loved the cast, the plot, everything. To me, this movie had the only thing that I truly care about in a comedy: it was funny! Sure, you can nitpick about all the little things. The story was a little unrealistic at times. Why were two younger women in love with Tim Allen's character? The animated heart was out of place. Maybe the story got a little corny here and there and sometimes the acting wasn't completely believable. But none of that really matters. When I pay to see a comedy, I want to be laughing during most of the movie, and this movie allowed me to do that. I was expecting from the trailer that it was going to be one of those movies that gets a slight chuckle now and then but isn't extremely funny, but it turned out much better than I was expecting. To be fair, I should mention that I consider myself a Tim Allen fan. Having said that, I can admit that most of his movies are pretty crummy, so for him to do this as his directorial debut, I think he did a better job than the directors of a lot of his other films. I say cheers to Tim for trying something new. His movies seem to be getting better. "Wild Hogs," "Redbelt," and now this. I think he's moving away from the corny family movies and into some more interesting material.