Joe Somebody (2001)

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'SOMEBODY' DO SOMETHING Allen fights for his rights

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A wise rabbi said it: ''Be yourself. Unless you're a jerk. In which case, be somebody else.'' Now here comes Joe Somebody to refute the sermon. This standard-transmission vehicle teaches that being yourself is always better than being somebody else. Because even if you're a jerk -- assuming you're a Tim Allen kind of jerk, which is to say, an attractively imperfect middle-aged white guy -- it's better to be authentic than to fake it. Here, Allen plays Joe Scheffer, a mild-mannered, divorced video specialist at a Minnesota pharmaceuticals company, whose losing encounter with an office bully (Patrick Warburton) inspires him to beef up his personality, with input from a strip-mall martial-arts teacher (Jim Belushi).

It turns out that at least two chicks liked the old Joe better: his overly wise 12-year-old daughter (Hayden Panettiere), and a sunshiny colleague (''Ed'''s Julie Bowen) who, being single and successful, naturally has miseries of her own, including a lecherous boss (Greg Germann). It turns out that Joe ends up liking the old Joe better too. Who just so happens to be the kind of average-Joe character that continues to make Allen such a tidy, non-Joe bundle.