Bob le majordome

Before you read the review, I have a confession. I am not a die hard fan of Tom Green despite I liked some moments of his show since they are all available on Youtube. However, since April 13 Green follows me on Instagram (the only actor that does it) and since I liked this movie, I felt I had the need of reviewing it finally. Now I finally took this off my chest.

Bob Tree (Green) is a 30 year old guy who can't simply keep a job. After making the kitchen in the fast food inherited by his uncle explode, he tries all the jobs in alphabetical order from the yellow pages, and after failing in all the jobs with the A arrives to Butler and this time, he goes to a butlers' school. After passing the tests (without some clumsy error on the way) he is assigned to a family with a mom (Brooke Shields) that has trouble in keeping her kids in line. And just like in MARY POPPINS, Bob will have a friendship-like bond with the kids and will help the mom in choosing what is best for her.

I really didn't expected to like this movie as it has 5,5 and mostly negative reviews, and also because of the fear that it would have been disgusting like FREDDY GOT FINGERED. Instead, it was a family movie just like it is supposed to be. Tom Green gives a more restrained performance and most of his gags here are in the right context, and I am daring to say, he actually surprised me. Brooke Shields has some very funny moments too and the kids are actually likeable after they meet with Green. The humour here is safe.

Overall, an adequate family film that is safe for kids and likeable for the adults forced to watch it with them. Not a must see but just one of those movies that you could watch if you are bored at home and don't want to think too much.

For only one time, Tom Green doesn't make an utter and complete jackass out of himself. This film is actually a nice family flick and I was surprised that it lacks any elements of the typical Tom Green routine.

While not terribly inventive (or, more exactly, predictable to boot) it's watchable. A guy, getting kicked out of each and every job, becomes a butler for a lonely mom with two kids, typical family movie cliché ensues. The guy himself isn't even a bit disgusting - maybe naive and a little lost, but nice and kind nonetheless. Who would suspect that Tom Green can actually be nice and act?

Good for a family afternoon with your kids.

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.

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 saw this film at Cannes... a week of serious meetings and rubbish dinners and I laughed and laughed at this light hearted break from the reality(?) of the festival.

The little bit of anti-French humour was hilarious.. Especially as I watched this film in Cannes.

While the movie is reminiscent of Doubtfire, it is much less sappy and way more slapstick. Tom Green is decidedly more normal – while being as strange and funny as ever – than we have seen in his teen flicks.

Shields is, as always, stunning and beautiful and, also as usual, combines her graceful beauty with physical comedy and well delivered (punch) lines.

The children in this movie were very well cast, they make the movie in a number of ways that can't be discussed without a spoiler warning! Go out, rent this movie, order a pizza and enjoy.