Joe Somebody isn't really any different than watching an episode of Tim Allen's sitcom. Say Tim pops off to some big tough guy in the audience of Tool Time who turns out to be a bully intent upon revenge. In this fun-filled half hour the bully embarrasses Tim and Tim vows to get himself in shape so he might gain revenge over this humiliation. Of course, during all of which his family stands by his side and even gains a new appreciation for him as a real man. He gains their respect, becomes a better person for it, but before he actually gets hammered he realizes that violence is never the answer, and by the end of the half hour everybody learns a valuable lesson about life.

The problem with this little fantasy is that it's not a 22 minutes of one-liners Joe Somebody is a ninety minute full length feature. And with only about the same amount of humor, story and warm and fuzzy family lessons to spread out over three times the running length. About the only difference is there is more profanity and even fewer laughs. Where's the guy over the fence when you need him?

Since I paid to go see it, it's incumbent upon me to tell you about the film and hopefully warn you off - this is far from Tim Allen at his best.. The bully is played by the usually solid Patrick Warburton who slaps Allen around in front of his daughter - and in a fit of peak he vows to fight the guy in three weeks to avenge his honor and win back the respect of his family. By way of preparing for the confrontation he enlists the help of martial arts expert John Belushi. JB is as dull as ever as a washed-up former martial arts expert.

One additional aspect is that Allen becomes something of a hero in the office where he works, because everyone that works their also hate Warburton's bully routine. And just the prospect of someone standing up to him buoys the spirits of the staff, particularly a co-worker played by Julie Bowen who develops a bit of a crush on our would-be underdog hero.

If any of this sounds familiar it might be that the writer and director have both worked on Home Improvement and director John Pasquin has already directed Allen in The Santa Clause and Jungle2Jungle. What this means to you, is that you're going to get the same old Tim, in the same old situations where he ends up looking like a fool and gets nailed in the nuts plenty of times.

To be fair Belushi has a few decent moments as the has-been who doesn't consider himself as such - and just like Home Improvement there are a few laughs to be had here and there. But the comedy is trite, simpleminded and pretty weak for a feature. I won't tip you off to the grand finale, but I will say that Joe Somebody never rises above the sit-com level - it's facile and forgettable and really not worth the money since you can see it for free on TV - with the neighbor over the fence to boot.