The Pacifier film review

certificate_PG

THE PACIFIER

What is it about muscle-bound action stars that compel them to want to shed their tough man image and try their hand at fluffy family comedies? The latest to switch hats, following Arnie and Sly et al, is Vin Diesel. After establishing his brand name with The Fast And The Furious and XXX, the bald-headed gravel-voiced Mr Diesel is obviously trying to prove his versatility, something he intends to test again in his next film, a courtroom drama with veteran director Sidney Lumet.

On this evidence, Diesel is not a natural comic. He certainly has plenty of enthusiasm, but he lacks the natural charm of Bruce Willis or the sheer presence of Arnie. With a smirk never far from his face, at times it's unclear whether he's trying to play it straight or funny. Still, he shows he's happy not to take himself too seriously, which, for the purposes of this lightweight bit of silliness, is all that is required.

In order not to alienate too many Vin Diesel fans, he retains some of the characteristics that have made him a star. The opening in which, as the testosterone-fuelled Navy Seal Shane Wolfe, he barks out orders, drives a jet ski and shoots down a helicopter, is familiar Diesel. It's when the operation goes wrong and the hostage Wolfe has tried to rescue is killed that the comic phase begins. The hostage, a government scientist, had been working on a secret project, the results of which are hidden in his house. Wolfe finds himself assigned to protecting the dead man's family, a rambunctious collection of five kids ranging from toddler to teen.

The essence of the humour stems from Wolfe trying to impose his military discipline on a bunch of unruly kids brought up to think an order is something you do at a restaurant. There is some measure of amusement in seeing the hulking Diesel contending with such domestic chores as nappy changing or performing a bedtime story, but not enough to sustain a movie. Kindergarten Cop has covered this beat, first and better. The fish out of water, or rather Seal out of water, plot is cute to a point but it all feels too predictable and laboured. Director Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House) started out as a choreographer, which is ironic considering how clumsy this feels.