We are all somebody, Joe Somebody Retrospective

(Video Article)

Joe Somebody is a fairly forgotten film from 2001, after all, it went up against Oceans Eleven, Lord Of The Rings and holy fuck, Harry Potter, a little over two months after September 11th. I am not sure how many people would have been down to watch a film revolving around mental health, bullying and standing up for one's self, right after the biggest tragedy to hit our shores. I mean that's a tall order to fill, it comes as no surprise that fantasy movies blew up the box office after 9/11. What? Too soon? Joe Somebody follows Joe Scheffer, a meek video editor working for a large pharmaceutical company, one afternoon Joe is taking his daughter to bring your daughter to workday, and after his parking space is stolen, Joe decides it's time to assert himself and take a stand. Which results in his being bitch-slapped in front of his coworkers and daughter. Ouch, even my pride felt that. This film without a doubt has one of Tim Allen's best performances, the scene after Joe's assault shows just how defeated he was, and all with one line, "I think maybe I'm just going to take you to school." which really demonstrates Allen's ability to give such a subtle and nuanced performance, in a scene that lasts less than a minute, but one that sticks with you for far longer.

I am sure at one point or another, someone has made each of us feel pathetic, worthless and weak, this film is all about how we handle those situations, and how we can grow from them. After sulking for a few days in his own filth, the companies wellness coordinator Meg comes around to check on Joe, and after becoming frustrated trying to help this depressed, lonely and anxious man, she simply askes "What do you want Joe?" Which lights a fire under Joe's ass, not literally mind you, I mean that would get you up, and moving around the house, which is the first step to recovery. The next step to recovery is asking yourself, what do you want? Which is the question Joe askes himself till he pukes, which then leads to the follow-up question, "So now what do you want?"

Which inspires Joe to clean himself up and to announce to Meg on her return visit the next day, "For the first time since I can remember, I have an answer, I know what I want, and it's all thanks to you, I am going to kick Mark Mckinney's ass, yea!" Which is pretty justifiable, this leads to Joe driving to Mark's house to assert his right for a rematch. Which has unintended consequences, suddenly Joe is the talk of the town, all his co-workers who ignored him for years, now know his name and want to be his buddy.

Which only validates Joe's desires to whop the low rent Buzz Lightyear's ass, yea fun trivia fact, Patrick Warburton who plays Mark Mckinney is also the voice actor used when Disney doesn't feel the need to pay Tim Allen's higher fees. After training with an overpriced combat dummy for a day, Joe's daughter reminds the actual dummy, Mark is going to fight back. Now, Joe can't back down from this fight, not with all the pressure of his newfound popularity, after all, he is finally becoming the man he wants to be, right? Joe seeks assistance with his combat skills and finds Chuck Scarett, a run-down movie star turned martial arts instructor who is clearly based on Steven Seagal, in a severely underrated performance by the always charming Jim Belushi.

Now, Joe is spending his time training, going out with new friends from work and in general, living his life like a champ. He is able to get the promotion he was passed up for, the courage to ask Meg on a date, and things could not be going better, except that is only how they seem to Joe. Little does he know, that he is being set up by his company as they fear he will sue for being assaulted at work, they treat him like a king so that when he slips up and beats Mark's ass, they can legally fire him without fear for being sued. When Meg learns of this nefarious plan, she goes to Joe, only to see he has lost who he is, self-home-improvement is one thing, but becoming enamored with all the perks and extravaganza is another. 

Meg tells Joe that if he fights, he may win, but he will lose her, and it's not just to protect Joe from an ass beating, she knows the man Joe is becoming, is not him, and not the man she fell in love with. Sometimes the women in your life do have your best interests at heart, contrary to what certain media may tell you. Chuck even begins to worry for Joe, as they both bond and form a real friendship during their training. Joe's daughter is even more worried for him, so much so that she is wasting her valuable talents as a writer, by trying as hard as she can to not be noticed. After all, how can you pursue your dreams if your role models never did? Until Joe got slapped around, he never pushed at work for the position he wanted, or even tried to get out and have a life, he was content to stay in his lane and this is the lesson he was teaching his daughter.

When the day for the fight finally comes, Joe is ready to kick some ass, and that is when he arrives at the schoolyard that was set up for their fight, and so everyone else can watch and bet on it. Joe is ready for the fight, Mark is clearly scared and realizes he has bit off far more than he can chew, but due to peer pressure he cannot throw in the towel, he's too scared to fight and too scared to back down, which is a real pickle, and not the kind you want to be tickled with. So it is up to Joe to settle things once and for all, as everyone gathers around them, chanting to fight, they slowly realize nothing is happening, and that's when Mark questions "Are we going to fight or not?" Which prompts Joe to proclaim there will be no fight, which relieves Mark and prompts him to offer an apology which Joe accepts, this leads to the disappointment of the crowd and Joe's boss who then tries to lash out at Joe. Kinda like Roger Ebert did when he viewed the film, and said that the anti-climax and messages ruined the movie, because he clearly did not understand that storytelling always trumps a fight scene. 

The film was compared by Roger Ebert to an after-school special because evidently, he did not learn from the film's message to not be a bully. Everything does not have to be dower and serious, you can make a sweet, kind-hearted film, that is packed with great humor and wonderful characters to carry a message that may not mean something to everyone, but that in no way diminishes the important story this film is trying to tell. Maybe if more people from 2019 saw this flick, then maybe we could realize being pitted to tear each other a new one, does none of us any good, and only rewards those wanting a show based on our own misery. We can make the choice to fight others, to make others miserable for our own benefit, or we can make the choice to be happy and hope that encourages the people we truly care about to flourish. Joe made his choice and that results in learning who his true friends are, he asks Chuck "Do you think I could've taken Mckinney?" and that is when Chuck informs him, "I think you just did."