"Man of the House" (2005) stars Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger who's assigned to protect five cheerleaders of the University of Texas after they witness a murder. He masquerades as a cheerleading coach while living at the girls' sorority house. Anne Archer is on hand as a possible love interest and Cedric the Entertainer has a fun role.While this is a relatively unknown movie, it cost a whopping $40 million, but only made back half at the USA box office. As such, it may be obscure, but it's highly polished. The question is, is it a gem or a piece of you know what? I'm giving "Man of the House" a relatively high rating because it pretty much gives you everything you'd want in a dramedy/thriller. The action scenes may be unrealistic, as well as some of the comedy, but the drama generally smacks of real life. If you can get past the "yeah, right" action scenes of the opening act the movie settles down into a worthy dramedy where you get to know the characters and care about their outcome. When the lives of the girls are ultimately threatened, for instance, it's suspenseful simply because you care about them by that point. At first, though, they come off stereotypical and shallow, but this changes over the course of the movie.Speaking of the cheerleaders, the filmmakers came up with an excellent assortment of actresses. The variety is good because every male watching will find at least one that trips his trigger. For me, it's Kelli Garner as Barb, but they each have their positive aspects. The others are played by Christina Milian, Paula Garcés, Monica Keena and Vanessa Ferlito. The latter plays the no-nonsense brunette who has a couple of discussions with Jones' character. While the actors do fine in these scenes, the filmmakers needed to work the kinks out in the writing. There are also some more "yeah, right" scenes at the end when the girls join the action, but this comes with the territory of this kind of movie.The bottom line is that "Man of the House" delivers the goods for a dramedy/thriller. Jones is a strong fish-out-of-water protagonist and Archer shines in her small role. The girls are cuties and the story captures your attention. I also appreciate the lack of raunch, not to mention the warmth that starts to surface in the relationships. For instance, Keena's character says something to Garner's character a little past the hour mark and it reveals something touching about Barb that was barely implied up to that point.The film runs 100 minutes and was shot in Austin, Texas, and Santa Clarita, California.GRADE: A-

If "Agent K" from "Men in Black" had to go undercover by himself with some cheerleaders that needed to be protected at all costs you would get "Man of the House". Maybe I'm simply losing my mind because of too many bad movies, but I found Tommy Lee Jones to be very funny in what is otherwise an average comedy. Thankfully, it's like the movie knows it's just a couple of bad jokes from turning into total trash so it barely focuses on the cheerleaders that need to be protected, instead of focusing on the overall dynamics between the girls and their protector. It may not be a very good film, but it's entertaining while it lasts and it has a few twists you won't see coming, making it a fun, if forgettable comedy (it really could have used some aliens to spice it up). (On DVD, July 20, 2012)

Ranger Roland Sharp (Tommy Lee Jones) loses a witness to a big time case. Only a bunch of University of Texas cheerleaders (Christina Milian, Paula Garcés, Monica Keena, Vanessa Ferlito, Kelli Garner) can identify the witness killer as Agent Eddie Zane (Brian Van Holt). Now Ranger Sharp must pose as a cheerleader coach to protect the girls.TLJ is doing his 'The Fugitive' character. The movie is counting on that TLJ with a bunch of scantily clad giggly cheerleaders is enough to make the audience laugh. It's not enough. The good news is that everybody is likable nice characters. The bad news is that none of them has a sufficient funny bone in their bodies.

Tommy Lee Jones is a good and versatile actor. And somehow he always plays the same roles. Is that a bad thing? Well,in this case it isn't. The contrast between the cheerleaders and this cranky old Texas Ranger is as fun as can be expected. There are even moments where Jones shows his softer side. Jones romancing Anne Archer and him displaying fatherly feelings over the girls he has to protect. Quite the opposite of the role he had in "Double Jeopardy" where most of the time he was just cranky and grumpy. And there are scenes where you can feel the huge age gap between these teens and the old man. But this is done in such a subtle way that is was pretty hilarious. As a bonus there is some slapstick in the form of Cedric the Entertainer. And I don't know about you but he always makes me laugh. The action is downplayed in service of the comedy which is a good thing. Since too much action would have been too distracting. "Man of the House" is not set out to surprise you. It entertains nothing more nothing less.