Matthew Perry stars as Nicholas Oseransky, a dentist from Chicago who now lives in Canada with his French-Canadian wife Sophie (Rosanna Arquette). Their marriage is not a good one. She has them so far in debt they may never get out. He resents her making him pay off the debt and making his life miserable (she does both gleefully). Things go from bad to worse when a new neighbor moves in next door. He says his name is "Jimmy Jones" but Oz (as he is called) recognizes the man as Jimmy "the Tulip" Tudeski - a famous mob hit man.

Jimmy (Bruce Willis) has left the United States after turning state's evidence. He now has a price tag on his head from a powerful crime family and is trying to hide out. Upon learning that a wanted mobster is living next door, Sophie comes up with a plan: send Oz to Chicago to turn Jimmy in and collect the bounty. Oz doesn't want to get in the middle of things, but he goes to the city to appease his wife. Despite his best efforts to stay out of mob business, Oz nonetheless finds himself right in the middle of it.

I want to avoid saying more because The Whole Nine Yards is fun for the way it surprises you by twisting the plot. What I can say is that several other people figure prominently in the story, including Jimmy's luscious blonde wife (Natasha Henstridge of Species fame), Oz's dental assistant (Amanda Peet), and another hit man named Frankie Figs (Michael Clarke Duncan, the Oscar nominated actor from The Green Mile).

The Whole Nine Yards is essentially a farce, which is one of the hardest styles of comedy to pull off. Much of the plot depends on mistaken allegiances between characters and their continual attempts to out-think each other. The plot whizzes around, changing the rules on Oz every couple of minutes while he tries to figure out how he's going to stay alive.

Matthew Perry doesn't seem to enjoy running into Michael Clarke Duncan

The performances are just right in maintaining the farcical tone. Willis plays things laid back and smooth; he's cool like a movie hit man ought to be. Duncan is also quite funny, capitalizing on his intimidating largeness to great effect. The real stars, though, are Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet. Perry gets to do all kinds of physical comedy - double takes, slow burns, running into doors (or Michael Clarke Duncan) and falling down. He's very, very good at playing such a nervously manic character. Peet steals the show, however, with a terrific comic performance that really makes you sit up and take notice. Her character, who appears to be little more than a ditzy receptionist, soon reveals layers that are quite unexpected. The actress (who played Jennifer Aniston's sister in the Ed Burns comedy She's the One) gives her character such a bizarre enthusiasm that it becomes highly comical. I don't want to give away too much about her function in the story except to say that she plays a tricky part to great effect.

The Whole Nine Yards is featherweight, to be sure. By the end of the year, I probably will remember very little about it, other than Amanda Peet's performance. Regardless, the film is quite entertaining to watch. It's a good comedy to see if you just want to sit back, relax, and have a few laughs.

( out of four)

The Whole Nine Yards is rated R for some sexuality/nudity and violence. The running time is 1 hour and 40 minutes.