JamieF

It took a while to get used to Chris Noth as an undercover cop (and Robert Patrick as a thug!) but once I got over that it was a lot of fun. The characters weren't entirely believable but their quirks served the plot and dialogue well. There were quite a few quotable one and two line bits in this movie that made me laugh out loud. I had pretty low expectations for a TNT movie and this really exceeded them - there were a lot of well-directed moments of great comic timing and meaningful glances that made me chuckle.

I'm very surprised to see the low ratings that this movie got - I'm not sure what people had issues with. (I prefer to comment before reading other people's comments, to avoid tainting my own impressions with other's criticisms.) All of the lead actors turned in excellent performances, the writing was good, the wardrobe for the criminal characters was funny all by itself, and in general I thought this was well done. It's no classic but it was entertaining and I didn't say "oh no it's just more Hollywood crap" once.

The movie is based on Harry Harrison's "Make Room! Make Room!" and inhabits the same story universe, but the plot has been altered substantially. More importantly, the characters from the book have been changed substantially, and for the worse. Simply put, there's nobody in the movie to like very much. Heston's character is sleazy and dumb and it's very hard to identify with him as a protagonist. I can see why Harry Harrison was so disappointed.

If you liked this movie even a little and would have preferred that it have more depth, better characters, a more gripping plot, and less footage of Charlton Heston swaggering around in that stOOOOOOpid hat, read "Make Room! Make Room!" by Harry Harrison.

If you like the lead actors, you'll like this movie. Joe is a Chandler-esque character, except more cynical, to the point of being a jerk... but a funny jerk. Liz

Hurley is cast (as usual) as the very hot and sophisticated love interest. Yes, there are some contrived "let's dress her up and show off her body" scenes, including the "I said help me, not undress me!" scene from the trailer. Still, the dialogue is funny, the interaction between Joe and Tony is funny, and yes, Cedric entertains.

This is a solid rental, and I would have expected that it would get around a 6 or 6.5 rating here. I guess some people wanted a more sophisticated plot. Sorry! Ogle Liz and laugh at Matthew, that's all you get.