Andy Fidler (Eugene Levy of "American Pie") is a dental supply salesman, with a charming wife and three lovely daughters who adore him. He’s on his way to Detroit for a convention where he is to give a big speech and he’s practicing so much that you fear he’ll be tongue tied with stage fright at the moment of truth. He’s Mr. Milquetoast, without a mean bone in his body.

Special Agent Derrick Vann (Samuel L. Jackson) is under suspicion by Internal Affairs; the agent played by Miguel Ferrer (TV’s "Crossing Jordan" and last year’s "Manchurian Candidate"). IA thinks Vann is a dirty cop, as his partner was killed in an underworld gun buy. He was probably snuffed because he was a dirty loose end that needed to be tied up. Add that to the fact that when one cop is dirty, 90% of the time, so is his partner. Vann is a man to watch.

This clever set up makes Vann and Andy reluctant partners. Vann sees Andy as the perfect undercover agent, as he is so guileless that no crook would believe he was "the man." The remainder of the film deals with how they finally trap bad guy Joey (Luke Goss of "Blade II"), Andy makes his speech, and Vann is redeemed by IA. You see all this coming, so this is not a spoiler.

Eugene Levy is the saving grace in this picture, if not for him it’s a routine, by the numbers Hollywood comedy. He is so funny in this movie one has to wonder how he is around family and friends. Can he have a normal side? The sub plot of the Internal Affairs Inspector along with Jackson’s boss Lt. Carbone (Susie Essman of "The Secret Lives of Dentists") added a serious tone to the film without detracting from the comedy. Jackson was Okay and Goss was effective as a cold-blooded killer.

The flatulent jokes and car chase scenes are beyond tired at this point, especially for something that aims to be a notch above the "American Pie"-type gross out films. One scene involving cops with drawn guns and itchy trigger fingers doesn’t play well in a comedy. From our point of view, you can’t have a scene like that and get a laugh. To the extent you do, it puts a chill over the film that it’s not aiming for.

Detroit was recently rated as the most liberal political city in the country and with the down and out viewpoint that it gets in films ("8 Mile," "Four Brothers," Narc, to name a few) there is a message here that we’re not sure we want to understand. That said, the film does have its funny moments and the chemistry between Jackson and Levy works. It’s not a bad film but it could have been quite a bit better.