In Gary Sinyor's Bob the Butler, Tom Green plays a chronically unemployed lout who attends “butler school” and then somehow manages to get himself hired as the domestic servant to the obnoxious kids of high-energy business executive Brooke Shields. As luck would have it, Shields is a single mother without a significant other in her life. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, there are plenty of raucous slob-meets-brats hijinks (albeit of a user-friendly PG variety) and the inevitable romantic liaison between employer and employee. But none of this is even vaguely amusing. Green, who was clearly an acquired comedy taste in his uncensored flicks and cable programs, is a completely enervated presence in this bowdlerized production (which first aired on the Disney Channel). What's the point of having a censored Tom Green? As for Shields, she was far more convincing talking back to Tom Cruise on postpartum depression than trying to convince viewers that she is a serious and powerful corporate mover-and-shaker (and as anyone who ever caught a Suddenly Susan episode will attest, Shields has little flair for comedy). And the kids—well, the less said, the better. Not recommended. (P. Hall)
Bob the Butler
Visual, 90 min., PG, DVD: $19.99, Dec. 20 Volume 21, Issue 1
Bob the Butler
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