Bob the Butler (2005) starring Tom Green, Brooke Shields, Genevieve Buechner, Benjamin B. Smith, Rob LaBelle, Valerie Tian, Simon Callow directed by Gary Sinyor Movie Review

Bob the Butler (2005)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Tom Green in Bob the Butler (2005)

Bell the Butler

After messing things up at a burger joint Bob Tree (Tom Green - Stealing Harvard) turns to the yellow pages again to find new work. Unfortunately his various attempts to secure a job fail due to his constant mistakes so when he makes it nearly to the end of B and sees Butler he decides to take a crash course in the art of butling. It leads him to a job working for Jacques (Rob LaBelle) and his girlfriend Anne Jamieson (Brooke Shields - What Makes a Family) who has two children which he finds himself taking care off, not an easy task as they are a rule to them selves.

When ever I see the name Tom Green I expect to be shocked, well I did sit through "Freddy Got Fingered" probably the most shocking movie ever made, and yes "Bob the Butler" shocked me. But the shock came not from Green's extreme sense of humour but because this is kind of a family friendly movie with Tom Green playing it safe, well relatively safe as there are still some off beat moments tucked in there.

Brooke Shields in Bob the Butler (2005)

Now whilst Tom Green playing safe was a shock the movie itself wasn't so much because it is not exactly new. Here we have a guy who needs work, had one failed attempt at being a babysitting and finds himself looking after two unruly children and through his unorthodox ways manages to win them over. It has been done before and to be honest has been done a lot better yet still I find myself strangely impressed by a movie which almost tames Tom Green.

Now I will emphasise the almost again as whilst this just about squeezes into the family entertainment genre it is not going to be for everyone. I say that as we have some quirky moments of humour which push the boundaries of acceptability such as one gag about Bob calling one of Anne's children Master Bates and another gag involving the peculiar butler mentor with a thing for men's nipples. Maybe it is because compared to some of the extreme humour Tom Bell is known for that it seems almost okay.

Having said all that the acting is forgettable and I will guarantee that a day after watching this you won't remember either Bell's performance or that of Brooke Shields who really deserves to be in better movies than this. On the subject of better movies you certainly expect the likes of Simon Callow not to be slumming it in this sort of forgettable flick.

What this all boils down to is that "Bob the Butler" is shocking because it is the last thing you expect from Tom Bell. But whilst strangely entertaining it is ultimately weak and forgettable.


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