The Man of the House is Texas Ranger Roland Sharp (Tommy Lee Jones) as a gruff take-no-prisoners kind of guy who always gets the job done - now matter what. And, not unlike Vin Diesel's character in the Pacifier, he is about to face the most challenging assignment of his career. It seems that a group of high school cheerleaders are the only witnesses to a murder of a key figure involved in a huge drug-traffiking court case, and it is up to the irascible Jones to protect these bouncing beauties during the trial. And what a trial it turns out to be, as Jones must survive an undercover stint as their live-in assistant cheerleading coach.

What follows is a pretty standard and mostly uninspired fish-out-of-water tale, as Jones misadventures bring about painful introspection about his relationship with his 'own' teenage daughter. Along with the would-be poignant life-lessons in store for the new coach, comes lessons in everything from fashion to the inner-workings of the female psyche - and oh yea, it's no easy task trying to keep these boppers alive.

At best, Man of the House is safe and mildly amusing, but for the most part it was pretty flat with an occasional laugh making it's way through the bad writing and cliched situations. The premise here is just so hackneyed, that no amount of clever writing could have saved it from tanking. For his part Jones is solid - he does what he can, but this movie is really beyond even his ability to salvage. Thanks to him the movie has its funny moments, but they are mostly lost in a morass of scenes that are neither funny nor entertaining and border on boring.

The one thing I find the most puzzling is why the heck was Cedric the Entertainer in the movie? I suppose it was so they could say 'hey we got Cedric its got to be funny.' Or perhaps to give the film a bit of cross-ethnic appeal. Every scene with Cedric could have been cut, as they in no way advanced the plot or were meaningful in any other way. I might have accepted them, but they were also the least funny moments of the movie - all he did was that silly little Cedric shuffle throughout his scenes. I always like Tommy Lee Jones, he really is a good actor and can play that rough, gruff character with the best of them - unfortunately he signed on for a doomed ride - call him the horribly wasted Man of the House.
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