The Pacifier English Movie
Muscleman Vin Diesel doing Julie Andrews' role in "The Sound Of Music"? You bet. He baby-sits five - as against seven - demanding unruly children in this easy-come-easy-go comedy.
Not only that, director Adam Shankman even puts in not-so-subtle homage to the musical classic as one of the children, 14-year old boy Seth, rehearses for a stage version of "The Sound Of Music".
And as though that isn't enough, the kids go by the surname of Plummers - the leading man in "The Sound Of Music" was Christopher Plummer.
You go into this film with the mundane expectations that Vin Diesel has raised through his action movies. You know, as well as anyone else, that Vin Diesel is not really an actor.
But like the other muscleman-turned-actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Diesel too has worked on changing his image.
He surprisingly manages to keep his muscles largely un-flexed, as the endearing navy guy, who goes on an unusual expedition and does the unthinkable charge of baby-sitting.
The episodes invented to spotlight the toughie's tryst with tender care are projected as a pastiche of piecemeal parenting.
One freaked-out, revved-up encounter with the kids follows another, some of them quite funny.
A cute subversion of the muscleman's machismo? Yes. But also a little unvarnished and facile, accompanied by a chronic case of cuteness.
It could get tedious for those who think movie experience entails more than scattered moments of mild witticism wrapped in American patriotism.
But it must be remembered that "The Pacifier" is essentially an excuse to give its leading man a chance to flex more than just his muscles.
The slight and diverting piece of cinema gives Vin Diesel enough scope to move away from his rugged image, and works fine in getting him familiarized with a family audience.
Watch out for the hilarious sequence where the reluctant, but remarkably skilled, macho-babysitter wrestles with a wacky nanny (Carol Kane) as she escapes the house filled with bratty kids.
The film is a good example of how beefcake can be moulded into an almost cartoon-strip experience.
