‘Nine Yards’ Violent Yet Humorous Comic Timing Of Willis, Perry Compensate For Obvious Violence Of Film

Imagine trying to stand out in a cast that includes the likes of Bruce Willis, Matthew Perry, Rosanna Arquette, Nathasha Henstridge of “Species” and Michael Clarke Duncan of “The Green Mile” fame.

Now you know what it must have been like for Amanda Peet on the set of “The Whole Nine Yards.”

Yet Peet, a Columbia University graduate who has had various parts in 17 movies since 1996, managed to make an indelible impression. In fact, Peet is one of the film’s central joys, despite having the thankless task of doing not one, but two gratuitous nude scenes.

That’s certainly something that her veteran co-stars, Arquette and Henstridge, weren’t willing — or maybe even asked — to do.

“The Whole Nine Yards” is light comedy, if you can call a comedy about a convicted contract killer (played by Willis) light. Graphic gunplay does tend to squelch the fun and games of movie humor, and this Jonathan Lynn-directed film doesn’t shy away from obvious violence.

But it does offer compensations. Perry, the puffy-faced “Friends” star, plays Nick “Oz” Oseransky, a dentist living in Montreal with his harridan wife (Arquette). One day, a newcomer moves in next door whom Oz discovers to his horror is noted mass murderer Jimmy “The Tulip” Tudeski (Willis).

The two, improbably, become friends, which leads to an outlandish plot whereby Oz is coerced by one of Jimmy’s old enemies, gangster Yanni Gogolack (Kevin Pollak), to sell his new friend out. Meanwhile, just as Oz’s wife is trying to hire someone, anyone, to have him killed, he is falling hard for Jimmy’s wife (Henstridge).

Add the massive muscle of Duncan, whose pistol resembles a small howitzer, and you have an ensemble of characters who are more than capable of keeping us interested as the plot twists to its maze-like climax.

Perry and Willis have superb comic timing, to which Perry adds a talent for physical gags. Henstridge is Grace-Kelly-like as the icy blonde, and Arquette does a famously bad, yet still funny, French-Canadian accent. Standup comic Pollak (“The Usual Suspects”) is Arquette’s match in the bad accent column, yet he is a master of the slow burn.

In between all of them, and all around Duncan, Peet flits. Cast as Oz’s dental assistant Jill, she emerges as something more in literally every respect. “The Whole Nine Yards” was no doubt intended to be a vehicle for the more famous performers. But don’t be surprised a few years from now if it’s remembered mostly for being the movie that made Amanda Peet a star.

“The Whole Nine Yards” *** Locations: Newport Highway, River Park Square, Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene Showboat Cinemas Credits: Directed by Jonathan Lynn, starring Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Rosanna Arquette, Natasha Henstridge, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amanda Peet, Kevin Pollak Running time: 1:38 Rating: R