The Ladies Man (2000): Dir: Reginald Hudlin / Cast: Tim Meadows, Will Ferrell, Billy Dee Williams, Lee Evans, Tiffany Thiessen: Lackluster portrait of a guy who hides behind a radio personality because he cannot find love. It stars Tim Meadows as Leon Plelps who gives advice about relationships. Many husbands are familiar with the happy face tattoo on his ass and they group together with the intent on reclaiming their manhood by castrating him. The conclusion is insincere as Phelps attempts to justify his behavior. Well directed by Reginald Hudlin with visual flair but Meadows hardly presents Phelps as sympathetic, and his concluding statement is difficult to swallow. When your leading character is this pathetic then it takes a creative plot turn to turn that around and this film fails to do that. One performance that does pay off is Will Ferrell who is hilarious as a wrestling obsessed husband who leads a funny song and dance number out to Phelps's houseboat. Billy Dee Williams is wasted as an advice giving bartender. Lee Evans plays an angry husband whose wife is caught in bed with Phelps. Evans could have matched Ferrell in hilarity had his role had any followup but unfortunately he just gets lost amongst the other hateful husbands. Purely an act for Meadows to further promote his Saturday Night Live skit with no conviction or care for its orgy. Score: 4 ½ / 10
Review of The Ladies Man
