The Pacifier is about as good as Mr. Mom, better than Major Payne … nothing spectacular, but certainly providing chuckles where it needs to. Vin is a Navy SEAL who, for no logical reason, has to undertake caring for the family of a man (Tate Donovan!) who was killed during a mission Vin led to rescue him. As with all Disney® fare, the grief aspect is completely ignored (the kids don't so much as acknowledge they ever had a father, much less one as nebbishly sexy as Tate Donovan) in favor of showing Vin contending with stuff like kids farting, etc. Some good cameos (Scott Thompson as a Waiting For Guffman-esque drama teacher; Lauren Graham as … I dunno, the school principal? … I just like to look at Lauren Graham), and Vin acquits himself nicely in the comedic mode. He's a likeable guy, for such a hunk of meat. Good lines: Little girl: "Why are your boobs so big?"What else do you need? As the plot overtakes the setup, The Pacifier becomes much more about paint-by-numbers crowd-pleasing than anything truly witty. But it never really falls off the rails. In conclusion, am I a bad person for experiencing a sinking feeling any time Carol Kane appears on screen these days? God bless her, but man, it's like watching a Parkinson's patient struggle to take a shower. No thank you! Back to the hospice, you black-toothed freak!
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