The Whole Nine Yards is what I would call a romantic comedy, with a touch of drama thrown in. It's a little more comedic than romantic, with Matthew Perry doing a good job with fine supporting work by Bruce Willis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Rosanna Arquette, and Kevin Pollak. Unusual that almost all of the supporting cast have starred in their own movies.

Anyway, the movie is about Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky, a dentist living in Montreal with his not-so-loving wife Sophie and her mother. Five minutes into the movie and you can tell that Oz is totally whipped. We also meet Jill, Oz's dental assistant, who urges him to have a fling and loosen up. Once Oz gets home, he meets his new neighbor, who is moving in. It's Jimmy "Jones", more commonly known as Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudesky, a former Chicago hitman who's hiding in Montreal from his former boss, who he turned state witness over.

Sophie finds out, and convinces Oz to go to Chicago to talk to the crime boss' son and get a "finder's fee" for locating The Tulip. Oz leaves and Sophie tells Jimmy, in order to get Oz killed. In Chicago, Oz meets Jimmy's wife Cynthia and falls in love with her. But Jimmy wants to kill Cynthia because he doesn't believe in getting a divorce. The other reason is $10 million in a bank account that can only be accessed by Jimmy, Cynthia, and Janni (the crime boss' son and current head of the organization), unless one or two of them are dead. Hence Janni wants Jimmy and Cynthia dead and Jimmy wants Cynthia and Janni dead, leaving Cynthia resigned to her fate.

Enter Oz, who is not about to let this happen. The bad guys come up to Montreal for the big confontration, and that's when the fun starts. The big question is how Oz gets the girl, gets rid of his wife, and doesn't get Jimmy (who he likes) killed, while still not resorting to violence or mayhem.

Matthew Perry is quite believable and funny. I also saw him in Fools Rush In, and he's good at the romantic comedy roles. Almost Heroes was not as good, he's not quite good enough to star in a comedy. Don't know if he could do action, as he doesn't have that kind of demeanor, but it's all acting.

Bruce Willis does a good job being understated. He doesn't try to be funny or deadly serious or overly dramatic. It's a rather quietly played role (except for one or two scenes) and Willis pulls it off well. Sort of like in the Sixth Sense where he played a normal sort of person.

Michael Clarke Duncan plays the heavy well. He does get to say a few cool lines. Amanda Peet is quite good in the movie. She has a great enthusiasm and a rather romantic heart. The nudity was not really necessary to the movie, and it tends to disappoint me when it's done. Even when it's "integral to the story", I feel that you can always convey the message you want without nudity or sexual acts. And yet I have no problem with violence, although graphic violence is also not necessary in any movie.

Rosanna Arquette had this weird Canadian French accent. Natasha Henstridge had another small role which wasn't remarkable. Kevin Pollak played a rather eccentric and psycho crime boss. At least for Arquette and Pollak, they were good acting roles giving the actors a chance to play memorable characters.

So my recommendation is that this movie is well worth watching. If you like romantic comedies then it's right up your alley. Not too much drama, not too much action or thrills. Solid acting, characters you can like, an ending that makes you feel good. All in all, one of the better movies so far this year.