Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry trade hits and insults across the whole nine yards of suburbia in this 2000 crime comedy, and the movie mostly earns its title. It’s a small-scale caper, built on a hitman hiding in plain sight and a dentist who stumbles into the middle of it. The setup is simple: a contract killer named Jimmy “the Tulip” Tudeski moves next door to a mild-mannered dentist, and the neighbors soon realize what he really does for a living. What follows is a mix of wisecracks, double crosses and a $10 million trust fund that everyone wants to inherit.
Trailer, via YouTube Movies.
Oz Meets Jimmy
Matthew Perry plays Nicholas “Oz” Oseransky, a likeable dentist who is despised by his wife Sophie and her mother. The movie spends its early scenes establishing that Oz is stuck in a bad marriage, working for a partner who embezzled money and left him in debt. That sets up the central conflict: when Oz learns his new neighbor is Jimmy Tudeski, a notorious contract killer, he has to decide whether to expose him to the mob boss Janni Gogolak or let him stay hidden.
Bruce Willis plays Jimmy with a weary charm, a man who has lived too long on borrowed time. Their scenes together carry the film’s best jokes and its most tense moments, even when the script leans on broad physical comedy rather than wit. Amanda Peet plays Jill, Oz’s assistant, who turns out to be a contract killer herself. Natasha Henstridge plays Cynthia Tudeski, Jimmy’s estranged wife, and Michael Clarke Duncan plays Franklin “Frankie Figs” Figueroa, Janni’s enforcer.
The Chicago Trip
The plot thickens when Oz is forced to travel to Chicago to inform Janni about Jimmy’s whereabouts. At his hotel, he meets Frankie, who is watching over him. Oz warns Jimmy, who already knows what he has done. The film builds toward a confrontation that never quite lands, since the movie is more interested in the chase than in the final payoff.
The comedy leans heavily on physical humor and one-liners, and some of it works. Some of it doesn’t. The film’s tone shifts without warning, moving from a light romantic comedy to a grim, violent crime story within a single scene.
A Mixed Bag
The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a financial success, grossing $106 million. That success came despite the film’s uneven tone and a few flat stretches. The sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, arrived in 2004.
The film’s strengths are its cast and its premise. Its weaknesses are a thin plot and a tendency to lose focus. The chase sequences are energetic but often feel staged, and the ending feels rushed rather than earned.
The Numbers
- Runtime: 98 minutes
- Genre: Comedy, Crime
- Gross: $106 million
- Sequel: The Whole Ten Yards (2004)
Final Word
The Whole Nine Yards is a modest success. It has a strong cast, a clever premise and a budget that lets it play on a larger scale than its modest stakes might suggest. The film drags in stretches and loses momentum near the end, but the core chemistry between Willis and Perry holds the whole thing together.
It’s a good, occasionally great movie that never quite reaches greatness. It’s worth seeing for the performances alone, even if the plot sags in the middle.
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