"Joe Scheffer" (Tim Allen) works in a large corporation and is going through some tough times. Not only has his wife, "Callie Scheffer" (Kelly Lynch) left him for another man but to make things even more humiliating he is beaten up in the parking lot of his company in front of his young daughter, "Natalie Scheffer" (Hayden Panettiere) . Too ashamed to return to work he is visited by a corporate counselor by the name of "Meg Harper" (Julie Bowen) who inadvertently gives him the idea of challenging the corporate bully "Mark McKinney" (Patrick Warburton) into a rematch. Suddenly, he becomes the rising star in the company and his behavior changes accordingly. Anyway, although this film started off pretty good it didn't seem to add anything new or interesting after the first 15 minutes or so. It was like one long joke which just dragged on for 98 minutes and it got old quickly. And while I liked the performance of Julie Bowen and I certainly didn't think her presence or that of Kelly Lynch hurt the scenery in any way neither of them were able to elevate this film enough for me to rate it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

Tim Allen is against type here as the meek Joe Scheffer, an AV worker in a giant drug company. He is divorced from his hot wife, passed over for promotions, and ignored by his boss. Then on bring-your-daughter day, he gets beaten up by the office bully Mark McKinney (Patrick Warburton) for a parking spot right in front of his daughter Natalie (Hayden Panettiere).This puts him in a depressed tailspin. Then when company wellness officer Meg Harper (Julie Bowen) ask him what he wants, he decides that he wants a rematch. In addition, James Belushi plays a martial arts teacher.It is extremely difficult to see Tim Allen casted so far against type. And he's not helping the matter with his lack of acting. The setting is the wimpiest of suburban and corporate blandness in Minnesota. There's really not much I like in this one except I am a fan of almost every actor involved. Sadly I didn't laugh once.

I have now managed to finally catch all of JOE SOMEBODY, the tale of an anonymous office schnook (Tim Allen) who challenges the office bully (Puddy from SEINFELD) to a fight in the company parking lot. Sound familiar? Allen is only moderately entertaining in the nebbish role, although the very cute Hayden P. is on hand as his sensitive and very bright daughter. The laughs do not exactly roll along as the director tries to walk a fine line between comedy and mawkish drama. The best parts of the film concern Allen training under a has-been actor and martial arts "master" played by the thoroughly out-of-shape Jim Belushi. Seeing Allen get slapped around by the beer-swilling Belushi somewhat helps make up for all of the terrible films Allen has appeared in over the last 20 years. Some of the quieter moments involving Allen and a sympathetic office colleague played by Julie Bowen also are worth a look. As a whole, the film is too long and boring. The ultimate showdown between Allen and Puddy is not worth sitting through the whole thing.

Joe Somebody is one of those cookie-cutter mediocre films where we can predict the ending long before it actually happens. Not only that, but our 'hero' (Tim Allen) is unconvincingly made into a better person as the film progresses (what the hell?). He starts out as a nobody, who wants revenge on a bully who humiliated him, but becomes a somebody after proclaiming revenge and then refraining from fighting the bully. Along the way, he falls in love. (Get it? That's why they call it Joe Somebody). I think I have seen this plot line many times before, only I don't know where.Another issue with this 'comedy' that I have is that there are only two real laughs to be had: One where Joe (how American!) reveals that he has steel balls and a line where Jim Belushi says: "It was maximum punishment to watch it." (after a film called Maximum Punishment) I didn't cringe at the film, but I got nothing out of this film either. I was living in the hope that Joe would beat the hell out of the bully, but of course I knew in my heart that he wouldn't and of course, he didn't. The romance is (for me anyway) meant to be awkward, but I felt no emotion when seeing Julie Bowen and Allen interact.The acting is OK I guess, but let's face it, anyone can play Tim Allen's role as a nobody. Ditto Julie Bowen's role as the love interest and Patrick Warburton as the bully. Every time I see Tim, he's starring in a sub-par or worse film: look at Christmas with the Kranks. Shame.Overall, this is not a terrible movie, just a sub-par one. If you like predictable, half-baked, forgettable comedies, then this is for you.2/5 stars