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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "MAN OF THE HOUSE" (2005) (Tommy Lee Jones, Kelli Garner) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Moderate Extreme *Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate Minor Heavy Minor Moderate Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Comedy/Action: A gruff Texas Ranger attempts to protect five spirited cheerleaders after they witness a murder related to a criminal who now wants them dead. PLOT: Roland Sharp (TOMMY LEE JONES) is a Texas Ranger hot on the trail of a government witness, Morgan Ball (CURTIS ARMSTRONG), who may be able to testify against ruthless criminal John Courtland (TURNER STEPHEN BRUTON). Accordingly, Roland goes to see former convict turned preacher Percy Stevens (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER) who had ties to both men. A shootout, however, leaves Roland's partner injured and Morgan ends up dead at the hands of an unknown assailant. That would seem to leave Roland with a cold trail, but his superior, Captain Nichols (R. LEE ERMEY), informs him that a small group of college cheerleaders actually saw Morgan's murder and have now come forward as witnesses. Roland thinks he'll have no problem getting their eyewitness accounts, but he wasn't ready for the likes of Anne (CHRISTINA MILIAN), Teresa (PAULA GARCES), Evie (MONICA KEENA), Heather (VANESSA FERLITO) and Barb (KELLI GARNER) who can't agree about the perp's appearance and are preoccupied with the interrogation interrupting their busy social lives. Divorced and nearly a stranger to his 17-year-old daughter Emma (SHANNON MARIE WOODWARD), Roland can't believe their shallowness and vanity, but things only get worse for him. Since the authorities know that Courtland will have any witnesses killed, Roland and two other Rangers are assigned to protect the cheerleaders. As the other two men move in across the street in a frat house, Roland ends up staying in the girl's house, much to their dismay since his no nonsense demeanor and strict rules about their activities from now on don't sit well with them. Going undercover and posing as the assistant cheerleading coach, Roland tries to make sure the girls are safe, unaware that his friend, FBI agent Eddie Zane (BRIAN VAN HOLT), is really in cahoots with Courtland and is now after them. As Roland attempts to protect the girls, they soon overcome their differences, with them advising him about his fatherly relationship to Emma and newfound romantic one with campus professor Molly McCarthy (ANNE ARCHER). WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? The sexy cheerleader angle might draw in both girls and boys (for different reasons), but unless anyone else is a fan of someone in the film, it doesn't otherwise seem too likely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For violence, sexual content, crude humor and a drug reference. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: TOMMY LEE JONES plays a gruff and no-nonsense Texas Ranger who finds himself babysitting some college cheerleaders and protects them from being killed. He eventually loosens up a bit, dates Molly, tries to be a better dad to Emily and briefly uses some profanity while enforcing the law (including shooting some criminals). CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER plays the former cheerleader and convict turned preacher who Roland wants answers from regarding Courtland. CHRISTINA MILIAN plays the captain of the cheerleading squad. KELLI GARNER plays a somewhat flighty cheerleader who plagiarized her professor's paper, but eventually does her own work under Roland's supervision and encouragement. PAULA GARCES plays an opinionated cheerleader who initially clashes with Roland and comments on missing having phone sex with her boyfriend. MONICA KEENA plays another cheerleader and witness to the murder. VANESSA FERLITO plays another cheerleader. ANNE ARCHER plays a college professor who finds herself falling for Roland. BRIAN VAN HOLT plays a corrupt FBI agent who's in cahoots with Courtland and then follows his orders to have the witnesses killed. SHANNON MARIE WOODWARD Roland's independent 17-year-old daughter who's resigned to the fact that she'll never see much of her dad due to his commitment to his line of work. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this comedy/action hybrid that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 5 "s" words and a slang term using male genitalia, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Sexually related dialogue is present, while the young and shapely college cheerleaders are often dressed provocatively and/or skimpily, showing lots of skin (but nothing more explicit than cleavage and some brief underwear shots) and are shot by the camera in a highly sexualized manner. One of them knowingly adjusts her clothed breasts to taunt some older men, while one mentions missing having phone sex with her boyfriend and they all do some sexy/provocative cheerleader moves and dancing. Some of that cheerleader related material and other moments may be enticing for some kids to imitate. Violence consists of several people being shot to death (with some but not a lot of blood, and no graphic impact despite some execution style shootings), others are wounded by bullets and there's some fighting and vehicular chases and crashes. Some of those scenes and other moments may be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, while various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes (some of them extreme). Some characters drink, one guy offers to sell pot to another person, and it's somewhat implied that a major character may have had a drinking problem in the past. Some brief crude humor is present (involving retrieving a cell phone from the back end of a cow, with visible results), a father feels bad about being mostly absent from his teenage daughter's life, and he and another character are noted as being divorced. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Miscellaneous people have beer in a bar. A guy in a frat house stops by and, thinking a young Ranger is a college student, tells him, "If you need any weed or anything, just bang on my door." Later, another guy comes by looking for that first one (to buy drugs), but he's no longer around. Miscellaneous people have drinks in a bar. Molly brings some wine for her date with Roland. He pours her some, but says he gave up drinking ten years ago. She then asks if he didn't like himself while drinking, prompting him to say he did, but that it was others who didn't like him in that state. BLOOD/GORE Roland wants Percy's cell phone (as it has the number of a person he wants to find), but Percy acts like he doesn't have it. We then hear it ring as the camera focuses on a cow's rear end. Roland then dons a clear elbow-length glove and puts his hand up inside the cow's rear (we don't see the insertion, but do hear a squishy sound, and see the arm movement and the cow's surprised reaction). Roland then removes his feces covered arm and cell phone from the cow. Morgan has some bloody scrapes on his face. Roland's partner is shot in the chest with some mild, bloody results on her clothing. Zane has some blood on his hand and sleeve after he's seemingly been shot or otherwise wounded in the arm. We briefly see several views of a morgue photo of a dead man's face (with some blood on the side of his head). One of the girls mentions that another's "friend" has arrived (referring to menstruation), meaning Roland has to shop for related feminine products at the store. Zane has some blood on his head and face following a bus accident. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Percy, a former convict turned preacher, lies to Roland about Morgan and then tries to run away from Roland and his partner. Morgan tries to shoot and otherwise blow up officers who are after him. Zane turns out to be in cahoots with Courtland and kills or attempts to kill various people. Some of the cheerleaders initially are shallow and not respectful or thankful to Roland for protecting them. Molly informs Roland that Barb plagiarized her latest paper. Some viewers may not like a scene where the cheerleaders (in small shorts and midriff-revealing tops) do some sexual/provocative cheerleading moves and dancing in a church (during an impromptu contest against Percy). During that, the camera briefly focuses on some of their clothed butts. One of the cheerleaders initially lies to Roland about the whereabouts of two of the others who've broken the rules and snuck out to a bar. A guy comes on to two cheerleaders in a bar. When Teresa tells him off, he becomes belligerent and says, "You're a sassy bitch." She then pushes him, he grabs her and Roland then grabs that guy from behind. Roland allows the girls to spy on his date with Molly (via hidden cameras) and feed him advice via his hidden earpiece. One of the girls states she spent a year in juvenile detention for stealing cars. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Older viewers, however, may find little if any of it that way. Roland hears one of the girls scream and races inside with his gun drawn. He then finds one upset over the color of her dyed hair. We see that Zane has discovered the cheerleaders' whereabouts. Roland discovers a timed bomb beneath their van and gets the girls out just in the nick of time (including having to cut one of their stuck seat belts) as the van explodes. Roland learns that Zane has Emma as his hostage, with the latter threatening to shoot her if Roland doesn't follow his directions. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Sniper Rifle/Bomb/Automatic Weapons: Used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. A college mascot carries a machine gun shaped water gun. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Sh*t zone," "Some kind of sh*t," "I'm in deep sh*t," "Are you always such a d*ck?" "What's the matter, you don't like vagina music?" "Punk," "What the hell /is wrong with you/happened/are you doing/does that mean?" "Go to hell," "Hell hole," "Suck(s)," "(Cold) Bastard," "A total skank," "Sure as hell," "Get in the damn van," "Hell of a paper," "Proper as hell," "Hell no," "Screwed up," "Tired crap," "Idiots," "Kicks ass," "You're a sassy bitch," "Babe," "Your gassy old ass," "Schizoid," "Loosen the hell up," "Dork" and "I feel like a freak show." One of the cheerleaders knowingly adjusts her clothed breasts while standing at a two-way mirror, knowing that Roland and others may be watching (and he and Captain Nichols are, in awe). While irritated at him, Teresa sticks her tongue out and makes other faces at Roland. We see a frat guy swinging down off a roof on a rope and crashing through a wooden fence. The various cheerleader dress provocatively while around Roland, wearing small and tight clothing that exposes skin (nothing explicit behind cleavage and skimpy underwear) and accentuates their womanly figures and features. Various cheerleaders wear midriff-revealing tops. One of the cheerleaders has a pierced navel and Roland comments on one's tattoo. A shirtless football fan has a longhorn drawn or tattooed on his chest. One of the girls gives "the finger" in describing a character's attitude in another movie. JUMP SCENES Zane suddenly shoots his driver in the head (no impact). MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song had a line about a "big ol' booty." A song repeats the beginning lyrics of "I'm too sexy for..." PROFANITY At least 5 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 14 hells, 4 asses, 4 damns, 2 craps, 5 uses of "Oh my God," 2 of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Christ," "For Christ's sakes," "For God's sakes" and "God." SEX/NUDITY Commenting on the Lone Ranger and Tonto, one of the girls says the latter was hot and wonders why guys don't wear loincloths anymore. One of the cheerleaders knowingly adjusts her clothed breasts while standing at a two-way mirror, knowing that Roland and others may be watching (and he and Captain Nichols are, in awe). All of the cheerleaders are portrayed, clothed and/or shot by the camera to appear sexy (such as moving in slow motion as they walk in unison). A male Ranger glances at one of the cheerleader's partially seen underwear as she bends over in her short skirt to get into a vehicle. The various cheerleader dress provocatively while around Roland, wearing small and tight clothing that exposes skin (nothing explicit behind cleavage and skimpy underwear) and accentuates their womanly figures and features. The top of Barb's bra and its straps are visible out of the top of her midriff-revealing top. While the cheerleaders sashay around the kitchen, the camera briefly focuses down one of their bodies (in tight fitting attire). The cheerleaders wear more short and tight clothing that exposes midriffs and cleavage. The cheerleaders ask Roland about his 17-year-old daughter, including whether she's sexually active. Roland blurts out no, but one of the girls quotes a report that sixty-some percent of teenage girls are sexually active. Roland finds lots of panties, bras and other lingerie drying in the bathroom. One of the cheerleaders wears very small panties and a tight top in front of Roland. He's eventually had enough and has an air conditioning unit brought to the house to make it so cold that the girls have to don more clothing. They then bring out a life-size cardboard cutout of a scantly clad cheerleader, with one circling the woman's clothed breasts and crotch area, stating they'll cover those areas on them. Roland then circles the area beneath the cut-out's small shorts and midriff as areas he'd also like the girls to cover. When Roland tells the girls to turn down their music, one tauntingly asks, "What's the matter, you don't like vagina music?" and then repeats the word "vagina" several times. Some of the cheerleaders still wear sexy/provocative attire. Teresa complains that she hasn't had phone sex with her boyfriend in over a week and that she has oats to plow (Roland corrects her about that phrase). The girls wear more midriff and cleavage revealing tops. Some viewers may not like a scene where the cheerleaders (in small shorts and midriff-revealing tops) do some sexual/provocative cheerleading moves and dancing in a church (during an impromptu contest against Percy). During that, the camera briefly focuses on some of their clothed butts. After asking if he's gay, Molly asks Roland, "Are you sleeping with any or all of those girls?" He replies no to both questions. The girls show more cleavage. When Roland asks Molly if she wants to go into the living room (after slow dancing, and while the girls watch them via spy cams and can talk into his ear via a hidden earpiece), one asks something presumably sexual about his offer (something about, "What are you going to do? [UNKNOWN VERB] her on the couch?"). SMOKING Captain Nichols holds a cigar. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Roland asks Emma how her mom is, with Emma stating she wouldn't know since she's away. When Roland notes that he's never in any of the family photos, Emma states that's because he was never there (and was always working). We then hear that Roland is divorced from his wife. One of the girls states that she hasn't seen her dad in nine years since he left. Molly states that she's divorced. Roland worries about Emma after Zane takes her hostage. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT All of the cheerleaders are portrayed, clothed and/or shot by the camera to appear sexy (such as moving in slow motion as they walk in unison). Molly informs Roland that Barb plagiarized her latest paper. Being a witness to a crime. One of the girls mentions that another's "friend" has arrived (meaning menstruation), meaning Roland has to shop for related feminine products at the store. After Molly runs into him there and sees those and other such products, she jokingly asks if he's gay. One of the girls states she spent a year in juvenile detention for stealing cars. VIOLENCE There's a brief shootout between bad guys and cops, with Morgan setting fire to a building and releasing flammable liquids in other rooms. Roland then shoots a bad guy (presumably killing him, but there's no blood), with Roland's partner also shooting another suspect. Some explosions go off, prompting Roland to throw Morgan through a closed window (with him and his partner then jumping out just as a huge explosion comes out behind them). A sniper shoots Morgan in the arm, hits Roland's partner in the chest with another shot, and then shoots at others. A man in a truck pursues Morgan on foot through the city. Morgan avoids one car but is hit by another (knocked to the street, but otherwise okay). The truck then chases Morgan down an alley, slamming into a delivery truck just as Morgan jumps out of the way. We see a man point his gun at Morgan's head and fire his shot, but we don't see the deadly impact. After witnessing a murder, the cheerleaders race out of a room, knocking a guy down by accident and then stepping on him as they run away. Zane has some blood on his hand and sleeve after he's seemingly been shot or otherwise wounded in the arm. Zane shoots his driver in the head at point blank range (we don't see the impact). We see a frat guy swinging down off a roof on a rope and crashing through a wooden fence. There's some brief football violence (hard tackling) during a game. Spotting a college mascot sneaking up on the cheerleaders with his paw down inside a large megaphone, Roland springs into action and races across the football field, slamming into and tackling the costumed guy (who turns out to have a machine gun shaped water gun). Roland falls and lands hard while roller-skating with the girls (but is okay). A guy comes on to two cheerleaders in a bar. When Teresa tells him off, he becomes belligerent and says, "You're a sassy bitch." She then pushes him, he grabs her and Roland then grabs that guy from behind. Teresa then kicks or knees that guy in the crotch. Several other guys then confront Roland who easily beats them with a pool cue, knocking one into several other people who end up on the floor. Roland discovers a timed bomb beneath their van and gets the girls out just in the nick of time (including having to cut one of their stuck seat belts) as the van explodes. We see Zane holding his handgun on Emma (beneath his jacket on a bus). When the cheerleaders create a distraction, Zane becomes upset and holds his gun on Barb. Someone then hits him, causing his gun to fire (no one is hurt). He then forces everyone off the bus (as Emma jumps from the roof down to the cheerleaders) and then tosses out the driver, before driving way and slamming into a car. Roland then drives up and he and Zane (in the bus) aim their guns at each other, with one firing and blowing out the bus' glass door. Roland then shoots out the bus' tire, causing the bus to swerve and eventually tip over. As border patrol guards aim their automatic weapons at a man, he spins around to shoot at Roland who shoots the gun from the man's hand. Percy somersaults down a church's aisle and ends up landing on and breaking a table (played for laughs). Reviewed February 25, 2005 / Posted February 25, 2005