The Ladies' Man (2000) * *

 

Directed by:  Reginald Hudlin

 

Starring:  Tim Meadows, Will Ferrell, Karyn Parsons, Tiffany Thiessen, Billy Dee Williams, Julianne Moore, Lee Evans

 

I confess I haven't seen much of SNL in the last 25 years, but I caught the Ladies' Man segment featuring Tim Meadows as Leon Phelps aka The Ladies' Man, a radio talk show host who dispensed  the most unenlightened, sexist advice imaginable.    Judging by his clothes, attitudes, and afro, you would assume he was a time traveler from the 1970s.    The segments were funny.    The 90-minute feature length version is not as funny, mostly because stretching out this idea to feature length results in a lot of filler.    This includes an overlong song-and-dance routine by a group of men who want to kill Leon because he slept with all of their women.    You can just sense the movie marking time.

 

The plot of the Ladies' Man is similar to the SNL skits, only we see Leon lose his radio gig for giving out one piece of profane advice too many.    He and his long-suffering producer Julie (Parsons) land at a Christian station, where Leon can't help but deliver his patented advice to a nun over the airwaves.    With his job prospects dwindling, Leon ponders his future while possibly falling in love with Julie and avoiding the aforementioned group of cheated-on men led by Lance (Ferrell).     Lance is entirely too into wrestling with other men (and oiling up) to be straight.    The others brainlessly follow Lance in his quest to cut off Leon's balls.  

 

The Ladies' Man has some funny moments.    Leon's guileless charm is infectious and he is at heart a kind soul with misguided views on women which we know he can set straight.    But, despite his sexism, he scores regularly leaving a bunch of angry (and some happy) women in his wake.     One moment that isn't funny is Leon's eating contest against Julie's boyfriend in which the men wind up eating unspeakably nasty items.    This is gross, not funny.    Julianne Moore shows up as a former conquest who likes to get it on dressed as a clown in full makeup and wig.    This is funnier in theory than in practice.  

 

I can't say I've seen many SNL-inspired movies since Wayne's World, which was decent if not totally successful.    Superstar, A Night at the Roxbury, and Coneheads have all gone unseen by me.    Also, throw It's Pat into the mix, which was mostly unseen by everyone.    The Blues Brothers (1980) found numerous ways to improve and build upon the SNL skits on which it was based.    The Ladies' Man isn't entirely terrible, but you witness it dragging itself across the finish line.