(rated PG, 98 mins.)
Tim Allen plays Joe, a divorced corporate nobody whose dead-end personal and professional life are turned around after the office bully publicly humiliates him in front of his daughter (Hayden Panettiere) over a parking space. Determined to get the spot and challenge the thug, Joe hires a trainer (James Beluschi) to give him the makeover he needs. Unfortunately the kickbox training doesn’t include the emotional training that should grow with his character. Even when he realizes his mistakes it’s too late for the audience to feel empathy. Instead he comes off as a coward especially since his daughter (a very good little actress) spends the entire movie begging for his attention while Joe is more interested in winning over the bully. We never get a sense of what we’re relating to…a reunion with his wife (Kelly Lynch), a better relationship with his child, or his new beau (Julie Bowen). The ill-defined premise makes Joe a nobody who should just consider disappearing.
