The Pacifier (2005) starring Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Max Thieriot, Chris Potter, Carol Kane, Brad Garrett, Morgan York directed by Adam Shankman Movie Review

The Pacifier (2005)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Vin Diesel in The Pacifier (2005)

Uncle Diesel

So "The Pacifier" is another one of those children's movies which works on a muscle bound action star playing it for laughs as someone stuck with a bunch of kids and no idea of how to look after them. There is nothing wrong with that as watching in this case Vin Diesel deal with a bunch of children is amusing for a young audience although not anything new for grown ups watching it with their children. But it is solid, the jokes generally work and the casting is good with some enjoyable supporting performances.

Navy Seal Shane Wolfe (Vin Diesel - XXX) makes a mistake when trying to rescue Professor Plummer, the man behind new encryption software called "Ghost" which he has hidden somewhere. After recovering from being shot Shane is sent on a new mission as whilst Mrs. Plummer (Faith Ford - Trading Christmas) heads to Switzerland to try and gain access to his safety deposit box he must watch over her children whilst searching their home to see if the "Ghost" is hidden there. The trouble is that whilst Shane is a highly trained military man he is not good at the domestic stuff especially domestic stuff involving children from babies to teens.

Lauren Graham in The Pacifier (2005)

So as I said "The Pacifier" is just another one of those children movies which sees an action star goofing it up as a tough guy having to look after children. As such whilst we have this set up of the encryption software which needs to be found the majority of the movie follows the usual path of tough guy struggling to deal with children, using his army know how and eventually growing fond of them. And of course along the way he searches for the "Ghost" and has to deal with some bad guys. Basically "The Pacifier" reworks the familiar formula and reworks it well for a fresh young audience.

The best thing about "The Pacifier" is that Vin Diesel does comedy without goofing it up like other action stars have done in the past. When as Shane he walks down stairs in just a towel after a shower and finds the kitchen full of girl guides the comedy is not over the top as he tries to cover himself. And that is the case through out with lots of jokes but done in a humorous manner rather than played over the top for laughs. But alongside that they also manage to combine the tough action side nicely to keep the laughs flowing.

Aside from that and Vin Diesel impressing when it comes to comedy the supporting cast also do a good job. The kids which include Brittany Snow as Zoe are an amusing bunch plus we have the likes of Lauren Graham, Brad Garrett and Carol Kane in some fun supporting performances.

What this all boils down to is that "The Pacifier" is nothing new with its comedy about an action guy dealing with children but it does work with Vin Diesel proving a deft hand at child friendly comedy.


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