Um Mordomo Atrapalhado

For all of the Tom Green fans, I doubt the comeback they wanted from him would be him headlining a film like Bob the Butler, but with actors like him, Pauly Shore, and Hulk Hogan, all of their films achieving some sort of cult status, I suppose you take what you can get. This is very basic children's romantic entertainment starring Tom Green as the title character, who decides to because a butler because he has successfully tried and failed at all of the "A" jobs in the phone book and has moved on to the B's. After burger assistant fails him, he goes to butler school, where he will learn to be a diligent, capable servant through meticulous training and craft.

He becomes acquainted with a wealthy but broken family of three, run by Anne (Brooke Shields) and her two children Tess (Genevieve Buechner) and Bates (Benjamin B. Smith) who can be devils or angels depending on their current mood. Because Anne is either working a lot, her kids see more of faceless babysitters than they do of their mother, which likely brews this sort of aggression in them. When Anne hires Bob to watch her kids (she still has a "Bob the babysitter" file) urgently, she finds that he immediately connects with the kids because he isn't dictative but very easy-going and relax. Okay, he himself is a man-child, but one who can hold his ground most of the time, especially in the company of Tess and Bates.

The story calls for a charismatic relationship between the title character and the supporting characters in the film, and that is precisely what we get. Bob's relationship with the family grows closer and closer, as he often crosses the lines of being a faceless butler to, gasp, a member of the family. Now let's just hope his crush on the beautiful Anne doesn't materialize into more than just recognizing she is indeed attractive.

Moreover, it's at least nice to see Tom Green tone it down several notches to make a character we can at least watch for longer than the length of a viral Youtube clip. His character here may not be the most human soul, but he's at least tolerable and able to evoke some decent moments, particularly when he's watching the children and trying to interact with them on a level they understand. I'd rather watch this - as corny as it could be - then watch Green play the piano obnoxiously with strings tied around his finger holding sausages suspended in the air on the opposite end. Green's chemistry with Brooke Shields is rather tame and expected for a PG movie. They share maybe an innocent kiss and that's about it.

Bob the Butler is one of those films I wish would've gone for more of a heavy PG-13 rating, or even an R, than the cop out rating of PG. The film may be innocuous enough for children, but that doesn't mean it will keep them interested. In a shortage of Tom Green performances, which, yes, upset me to a degree, seeing him play in a redundant albeit slightly-passable kiddie flick is like drinking a lukewarm cup of coffee on a day I awoke expected a fresh one.

Starring: Tom Green, Brooke Shields, Genevieve Buechner, and Benjamin B. Smith. Directed by: Gary Sinyor.

I got a call from my Grandma who asked me to come down to her house and watch a Tom Green movie with her. After I hang up, I'm sitting there thinking, "Tom Green, as in 'Freddy Got Fingered?!'" And so me, my Dad and Brother go down to her house to investigate and we end up watching this hilarious little kid's movie with Tom Green, yeah, TOM GREEN.

The movie is about a guy who needs a job, badly, because he's going through the yellow pages of the phone book, starting with the 'A' section, then the 'B' section, finally when he gets to the end of the 'Bs' he comes to 'Butlering,' and decides, "Okay I'll try that." So he gets into butler training, then is hired by a family to be their butler, and hilarity ensues.

I usually don't watch newer kid's movies, I feel old (I'm 18) and like to stick to the old ones (Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, etc...), but this was a genuine classic on a stick. I laughed and the movie really teaches a lot of good morals, too. I felt Tom Green was not being himself yet still being very funny, which in the end, turned out to be a good thing. It was like when Arnold Schwartzennager did kid's movies, we all liked them, we just don't admit it.

There's really nothing offensive in the movie that won't go over children's head's e.g. Rocky & Bullwinkle or Pee Wee's Playhouse. I don't think that there's a single bad word in the whole movie and if my Grandma liked it, then it's definitely suitable for the whole fun filled family, trust me on that one.

All in all, the movie gets a 9/10. Tom Green should do more like this, it may not suit him, but it's good for him. Not saying that the dirty Tom Green isn't funny, he's hilarious, but this Tom Green just goes to show that there's more to comedy than poop jokes.

~ Art At War

This is Tom Green at his best! The only thing wrong with this film is there wasn't enough of it! I loved this movie, and frankly, I am amazed at Tom Green's ability to render such pathos. I loved his manic humor in earlier films, but this was simply superb work on his part as an actor. Brooke Shields has never been so charming, and I just loved her in this movie. She was perfectly cast for this film. Unfortunately, Tom Green spends far too much time behind the camera instead of in front of it these days, and we are losing a national treasure because of that. He now has a special place on my list of favorite actors - that I will go to the movies to see anything he is in. Tom, please star in some more movies! I will throw down ten bucks to see any movie you are in, just because you are in it!

It appears Tom Green has gotten over trying to be Alan Funt's vulgar imitation and is actually not trying to actively repulse his audiences for once.

This movie is plotted rather bland and predictable for the most part. The camera-work is acceptable, the audio soundtrack is okay, the audio editing is only slightly above sub par (sharp audio cuts in musical tracks rather than volume fades plus failure to score out scene music to proper lengths to fit the mood and failure to gauge spoken audio levels in many scenes to emphasize emotional shifts).

As for the plot, a man who gets fired regularly from jobs gets butler training, takes over for a neurotic woman's babysitter as a butler, predictable boring bratty kid events occur, non-prudish butler guy eventually adapts and bonds with kids, neurotic woman views butler as potential father figure, butler quits job for professional reasons, woman chases after butler, butler marries woman becomes father to kids. It was nice to see that Tom Green can not make a repulsive jackass of himself for once although the movie is boring as all heck.

Whether one likes a movie or not is totally dependent upon what one is looking for. If you're looking for superb production or a totally realistic story line this wouldn't be the one for you. (Aren't movies supposed to take us away from reality for a time?) If you liked "Hook" "Jumanji" or "Lemony Snicket's A series of Unfortunate Events" you will definitely like this one. Though I missed the very beginning it was an easy plot to pick up on, moves along well enough and has redeeming value. I immediately recognized Simon Callow from "Room With a View", and "The Woman in White" among others, so I figured it was worth staying and seeing what it was about and it was on the Disney channel so it was safe for my child to watch. I found the movie entertaining, funny, not overly cheesy, and felt good when it was over. What more could we ask for?