Tim Allen as Joe Scheffer

Thanks to brisk direction by John Pasquin, pleasant performances (including Kelly Lynch as Joe's hippie ex-wife Claire), and a few good kicks in the crotch, Joe Somebody wins a split decision despite its predictably low-impact resolution to the parking-lot rematch.

As the rematch approaches, Joe has to choose between his desire to kick butt and his penchant for the pleasing posterior of Meg Harper (Julie Bowen), the corporate "wellness coordinator" assigned to keep Joe from suing the corporation as a result of the incident in the parking lot. Of course, Meg and Joe grow closer as she tries to help him decide what to do, but when he avows to prepare his mission of mayhem, her interest wanes. She likes Joe not for the big man around the office he becomes as the fight draws near, but for the clumsy but loveable loser and dedicated father he was before the first altercation took place. Will Joe act the tiger and loose the love of the lady and the respect of his daughter, or be the bigger man and walk away from a fight he could now easily win, thanks to nearly a whole month of training at a local martial arts school? Not to give anything away, but even Stevie Wonder can see this ending coming from the back row of the balcony.

Helping to keep Joe Somebody the movie, and the character, from being knocked out in the first reel is sarcastic beer-swilling Chuck Scarret (Jim Belushi), an ex-kung fu movie star turned martial arts instructor. Belushi's performance is a refreshing breath of foul air in a film that could easily have become a mealy-mouthed Karate Kid for grownups. And trust me, no one wants that. "I was really hoping to give a shit," Chuck says when Scheffer tells him what happened in the Starke parking lot that fateful morning. But with nothing better to do, Scarret takes on this pudgy pupil, teaches him the ancient art of keeping his guard up, avoiding a throat punch and the soothing benefits of a bag of ice on a swollen scrotum.

Also adding an invigorating nuance of nastiness to Joe Somebody's self-pitying proceedings is Greg German (of "Ally McBeal" fame) as Jeremy. A sleazy shill for the Starke forces, Jeremy lusts after Meg while plotting Joe's dismissal after the company is absolved of its responsibility towards Scheffer in the parking-lot fracas. Jeremy is essentially the same smug lecher as German's character on "Ally McBeal," so his time on screen is almost as much fetid fun as the scenes with Belushi. And if you were worried that Scheffer's training was for naught, have no fear, Jeremy makes a nice, if predictable, receptacle for Joe's new ninja skills when Jeremy besmirches the honor of the lovely Meg. Apparently, it's okay to beat up people if they insult your girlfriend, but not if they knock you down in a parking lot in front of your twelve-year-old. Did Shakespeare ever have such tempestuous thematic quandaries? Me thinketh not.

Obviously, this isn't Hamlet we're talking about here and anything starring Tim Allen can't be taken too seriously. So, if you're in the mood for a silly romantic comedy complete with a happy ending and a couple good sucker punches, give Joe Somebody a shot. Why not, everyone else does.