Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is a mild-mannered American dentist who lives in Canada with his deeply unpleasant wife and her equally unpleasant mother. Despite frequent vocal suggestions from his assistant Jill that he 'ditch the bitch', Oz feels trapped by his financial debts and personal commitments.
Things become rather more complicated when a new neighbour moves in next door and Oz recognises the man as Jimmy 'The Tulip' Tudeski, a former hitman for the mob who turned informer against his boss.
The mob has a big bounty on Jimmy's head, and - after 'The Tulip' refuses to whack her husband for her - Oz's wife demands that Oz travel to Chicago and try to cash in. Oz pretends to comply, travelling to Chicago with no intention of following through, but the mob have no intention of letting go of any chance at revenge on Jimmy Tudeski. Oz quickly finds himself way out of his depth, desperately struggling to not get killed while also not betray all of his principles.
Oh, and there's the little matter of meeting the woman of his dreams while all this is going on.
The Whole Nine Yards is (despite the number of people killed in it) a light and breezy crime comedy. It's not a complex movie: the plot's pretty simple and straightforward and most of the humour derives from Matthew Perry's Chandler-esque flailing at the outrageous situation in which he finds himself. But it's certainly not a hard time to spend ninety minutes with this cast, who are all competent and seem to be enjoying their roles. Amanda Peet, as Oz's assistant Jill, is particularly fun.
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