Anything to keep Willis from singing: "The Whole Nine Yards"

Yeah, I never saw this back in 2000. Must have been a matter of not really caring enough to hit the theater, and then never seeing it in the video store and saying, "All right!" But when it showed up on a free preview weekend for Movie Channel X -- can't remember which one, maybe Encore -- I thought, sure, why not? And you know what? No regrets.

Matthew Perry -- always annoying, but not painfully so here -- is a dentist in Montreal. His new neighbor is a former mob hitman gone into hiding, played by Pauly Shore. OK, it's actually Bruce Willis. When Perry recognizes the bad man, his wife (Rosanna "Playing French, but Looking Kind of Hot" Arquette) persuades him to go to Chicago and rat out Willis to the top mobster, Kevin Pollack, collecting a finder's fee along the way.

While there, our hero meets Willis' wife, the comely Natasha "All Downhill Since 'Species'" Hentsridge. But then things get all sneaky-deaky, with plotting and scheming and other fun players involved, namely Michael Clarke Duncan as another mob enforcer and Amanda Peet as Perry's secretary. Hold onto your hats, folks!

Actually, it's not a bad little story, and everyone seems to be having a good enough time. Like I said, Perry isn't so bad, and Willis is ... Willis. Nothing special, but not overboard, either. Arquette and Pollack are amusing enough, and Hentsridge is pretty but not as hot as in other movies.

The real gem here -- and I recall this from the reviews -- is Peet. She hadn't been around too much before this movie, and she's not only funny but pretty much smokes the other women for sexiness. And I'm not just saying that because she's the only one who shows her goodies, although that helps. Don't know if it was her hugely wide smile or her bright eyes or her general kookiness, but she's easily the best thing in this comedy-caper movie. Throw in the nice Montreal touches -- bridges and jazz -- and this movie is better than you might think.