The Ladies Man

Reviewed by:
David Cosgrove

With Tim Meadows starring in his first feature-length role, joined by always funny Will Ferrell, “serious” actress Julianne Moore, and Godfather of Smooth Billy Dee Williams—yes!—we figured The Ladies Man might be able to score some much-needed points for a Saturday Night Live production. Unfortunately, the laughs are limited and the script fails to strengthen the lead character’s appeal beyond a bottle of Courvoisier and some sweet threads.

Leon Phelps is a late-night talk-show host who gets fired for giving vulgar advice to his Chicago audience, including a plea for listeners to, “Do it in the butt.” Along the way he deals with a by-the-book co-host (Karyn Parsons), a former lover (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen), and a brigade of husbands hell bent on shutting down his adulterous ways. Although we are amused by Meadows’ injection of phrases like “tang” and “bus-station skank” on national TV, it’s just not enough to keep us in the theater.