Double Whammy (2001)

Wonderful character development!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I am a big fan of Liz Hurley and not at all a fan of D. Leary. That being said, I didn't expect much from this movie, and I didn't get much. The story is all over the place, with sub plots that has little meaning to the main plot. The lack of quality in the writing affects all the main characters, which means only Hurley, Buscemi and Luis Gúzman pass the grade.We got drama, crime, romance, and comedy. As for the romance, Leary is far from likable, and the relationship with his chiropractor is just not romantic nor credible. Apart from the aspiring film writing neighbors played by Donald Faison and Keith Nobbs, there is nothing funny at all in this movie.See this movie if you want to see the always beautiful Liz Hurley. Otherwise stay away. Leary should stick to stand-up, but I guess he ran out of Bill hicks routines to recycle.

I watched this movie because it was titled a comedy and Denis Leary had the lead. I really like Leary as an actor but not in all his roles and this is one of the don't likes. This film was not even close to being funny unless there was some black comedy aspect that I just missed. Leary is a detective who gets caught is a couple of bad press pieces because of a bad back. He goes to a chiropractor and gets it corrected. They end up hooking up of course. The supers daughter wants a tattoo (way under age). told no she goes to two local idiots. They misunderstand and think she wants them to off Papi. They knife him in the back. This leads to Leary finding the bad guys or they find him? Anyway Leary shoves one out a window and while fighting the other one the knife that is stuck in the ceiling falls and sticks in the bad guys back which kills him. I have a big problem with that . The knife blade is a very wide one and goes in perpendicular to the ribs. No way. The blade would have bounced off the ribs coming down like that. Oh well it fits with the rest of this not funny movie.

I can't believe how stupid I have been all these years relying on doctors and pills. Why should I suffer in pain when I could have some hot chiropractor like Elizabeth Hurley crawling all over me? I just have to make an appointment.This was not an ordinary cop picture. Sure, Denis Leary and his partner, Steve Buscemi are trying to solve crimes, but they are really trying to straighten out their messed up lives. Leary's back causes him to be the laughing stock of the city, and allows the other cops to get a good laugh; especially Chris Noth, a big favorite of mine.Leary seems to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time until he is hooked up with two whack screenwriters that can't even see a good scene when they are in it. It is then that he gets the guys that attacked Luis Guzmán and becomes the hero.Lots of laughs in this film written and directed by Tom DiCillo.

Two of the most respected, famous, talented individuals in movie history - Jack Nicholson and the late Peter Sellers - have and had off-screen relationships, both professional and personal, at complete odds with their on-screen personas. In terms of his primary professional career - as a comedian - Denis Leary has a persona which can be described as harsh, earthy, laced with profanity, and with characteristics which often are vulgar. He's also very funny, but even those of us not averse to comedy with very adult language and demeanor can find some of his stuff off-putting on occasion. But on-screen, while he also presents some rough edges, in this film (as in "The Ref") he is likable, and is a also a competent actor (if not yet a "Sellers" or "Nicholson") who provides an engaging performance. In "The Ref," the splendid supporting performances by Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis, his neurotic hostages and later allies - along with the rest of the excellent cast - added to the film's enjoyment. In "Double Whammy" the beautiful and talented Elizabeth Hurley (Hugh Grant should have his head examined) and the other, supporting cast members, many recognizable for other capable performances, add to this film's enjoyment, as well.But, back to comparison with Sellers and Nicholson, Leary is a man who in real life had been married to the same woman for nearly 25 years, half his entire life, who has significant charitable activity, who taught English (IN COLLEGE), and is as stable as these two were not - in reality. We certainly can enjoy performances which don't reflect actors' personal/real lives (if this weren't so, movies and other entertainment media might die-out) - but it's interesting to recognize the virtues of someone like Leary, especially since, ironically, I've encountered people who eschew his movies because the don't care for his on-stage comedy persona. In this film, albeit's not being "The Maltese Falcon" or "Basic Instinct," and Leary not yet another Bogart or Michael Douglas, it still is well-cast, well-acted, and provides a competent mix of humor, action, romance, some surprises/plot twists, and drama, to provide an enjoyable hour-and-a-half spent, and rates a solid 8* (possibly even higher).