Taglines: Life’s a comedy. It’s all in the execution.
The Whole Nine Yards movie storyline. Oz is a Montréal dentist, paying off debts so he can divorce his wife: the dislike is mutual. When she learns their new neighbor is hit man Jimmy the Tulip, with a price on his head, she sends Oz to Chicago to earn a finder’s fee telling Mob boss Yanni where to find Jimmy. To get his wife off his back, Oz goes, his assistant Jill urging him to get laid while there.
One of Yanni’s men awaits Oz at the hotel; Oz’s now in too deep to avoid telling Yanni what he knows. Meanwhile, Oz’s wife rats on Oz to Jimmy, hoping Jimmy will kill Oz and she can cash in on life insurance. Oz meets Jimmy’s wife (Yanni’s captive), flips for her, and the double-crosses mount.
The Whole Nine Yards is a 2000 American-Canadian crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, starring Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan and Natasha Henstridge. The title derives from a popular expression of uncertain origin. A sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, was released in 2004. The film grossed $57,262,492 during its U.S. theatrical run, with an additional $49,109,159 internationally. Its worldwide total is $106,371,651.
About the Story
Nicholas “Oz” Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is a Quebec dentist from Chicago, who happens to be genuinely likable to almost everyone who knows him. However, he is trapped in a miserable marriage to the daughter of his late ex business partner. His wife Sophie (Rosanna Arquette) and mother-in-law (Carmen Ferland) hate him, and his deceased father-in-law has saddled him with a lot of debt. He can’t divorce his wife because her father embezzled from the dental practice, and he has nothing but debt if they separate. As the movie opens, Sophie tells Oz she needs $5000, but won’t say what for.
At the office, we are introduced to his assistant, Jill (Amanda Peet). Jill and Oz have lunch and she tells him that his wife isn’t a good person. They joke about the fact that, due to his insurance, he’s worth more dead than alive, and discuss having her taken out of the picture, and Jill playfully tells him to name a price. When Oz gets home, a new neighbor is moving in next door. Oz thinks that “Jimmy Jones” looks familiar, and after recognizing a tattoo on Jimmy’s forearm, realizes that he’s Jimmy “the Tulip” Tudeski (Bruce Willis). Tudeski is an infamous contract killer from Chicago who was given amnesty after ratting out Lazlo Gogolak and other members of the Gogolak gang.
Oz runs home in a panic and tells Sophie they’re moving. But Sophie insists that Oz return to Chicago to collect a finder’s fee by giving up Jimmy’s whereabouts to Lazlo’s son, Janni (Kevin Pollak). Oz is picked up by Jimmy for a sudden trip to the city, where he reveals his predicament to Jimmy: his wife’s father got involved with an underage boy who blackmailed the father, who embezzled money to pay off his blackmailer, and then committed suicide, saddling Oz with the debt
Jimmy sympathizes with Oz, and tells him he honestly likes Oz. Even though Oz has warmed to Jimmy, he still goes through with the trip to Chicago to pacify his wife. Upon arriving in Chicago, Oz has lunch with an old friend and confesses that he has no intention of meeting with Janni or giving up Jimmy; unfortunately, when Oz returns to his hotel room, he is greeted by Frankie Figs (Michael Clarke Duncan) who turns out to be one of Janni’s enforcers. Frankie roughs Oz up to get the truth out of him and then takes him to Janni.
At Janni’s estate, Oz meets Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge), Jimmy’s estranged wife. Janni instructs Frankie to accompany Oz back to Canada and keep an eye on Jimmy until Janni and his men arrive to take him out. Back at the hotel, Oz calls Jimmy in a panic, warning him to run, but Jimmy casually reassures him everything is okay.
He is then visited by Cynthia, who asks Oz if he really knows where to find Jimmy, explaining that Janni and Jimmy both want her (as well as each other) dead in order to collect on $10 million, which is being held in trust in their names (the “whole nine yards” of the title). Oz and Cynthia share a bottle of scotch and end up sleeping together.
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
Directed by: Jonathan Lynn
Starring: Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan, Harland Williams, Kevin Pollak, Carmen Ferland
Screenplay by: Mitchell Kapner
Production Design by: David L. Synder
Cinematography by: David Franco
Film Editing by: Tom Lewis
Costume Design by: Edi Giguere
Set Decoration by: Mary Lynn Deachman
Art Direction by: André Chamberland
Music by: Randy Edelman
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: February 18, 2000
Views: 1146
