Film

The Whole Nine Yards

Name: The Whole Nine Yards
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: 2000
Cast: Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis, Natasha Henstridge, Amanda Peet, Michael Clarke Duncan

A mob hitman in witness protection meets his chatty, divorce-hungry neighbour in the suburbs—a collision that spirals into blackmail, contract killing, and marital chaos. It's a crime comedy that treats violence as punchline, built on the chemistry between Bruce Willis's world-weary killer and Matthew Perry's scheming dentist. Agreeably dumb, confidently silly, and determined to entertain.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like breezy crime capers where a fussy, nervous dentist-type gets dragged into a bigger mess and the banter does most of the heavy lifting, with a light touch and a gleeful sense of escalation.

Skip it if you want sharp, grounded crime with real stakes; this one leans on broad physical gags and cartoonish side characters, and its jokes can feel repetitive across its ninety-eight minutes.

What it asks of you: Not much beyond a willingness to laugh at escalating silliness; it moves briskly, stays fairly light, and rewards you for going along with its over-the-top set-ups rather than scrutinising them.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

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A detective noir disguised as a buddy comedy, with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer sparring through LA lowlife. Same DNA: genre tropes colliding with sharp character work and genuine affection for its criminals.

But The self-aware cleverness can feel exhausting, and the plot occasionally disappears under its own winking.

In Good Company2004

Matthew Perry alongside Dennis Quaid in a workplace comedy with surprising heart. Proves Perry's charm extends beyond sitcoms when given actual character range and a script that respects him.

But It's a corporate rom-com with corporate rom-com earnestness—sometimes the sincerity outweighs the laughs.

RED2010

Bruce Willis leading a heist-adjacent crime comedy with Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman. Gleefully violent, handsomely shot, and aware that a seventy-year-old action star is inherently funny.

But The plot is basically an excuse for set pieces; if you need narrative coherence you'll be frustrated.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Whole Nine Yards

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Fargo1996

Both treat crime as the engine for suburban satire rather than the main event; both find pathos in failed schemes and ordinary greed.

Small-town Minnesota, a kidnapping scheme that implodes, and criminals so ordinary they blend into the snowdrift. Like Nine Yards, it finds absurdist comedy in the collision between criminal ambition and suburban reality.

But The Coen Brothers' laconic pacing and moral weight mean it's far darker than the comparison suggests—don't expect lightness.

Out of Sight1998

A crime romance that glides between elegance and trash talk, directed by Soderbergh with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. It finds depth in its criminals without ever becoming serious.

But The tone shifts keep some viewers lost; it refuses to commit to either crime thriller or love story.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith2005

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as married assassins who discover they're targeting each other. A marriage-on-the-rocks movie that weaponises action sequences instead of dialogue.

But The chemistry between the leads can't quite overcome a flimsy premise, and the screenplay asks very little of itself.

Grosse Pointe Blank1997

John Cusack returns to his hometown for a high school reunion and discovers it clashes badly with his career as a contract killer. A sharper, sweeter take on the killer-in-suburbia idea.

But It's messier in tone than it needs to be; sentimental moments jar against the satirical ones.

The Gentlemen2020

Guy Ritchie's ensemble crime comedy with Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, and Hugh Grant trading fast dialogue and double-crosses. Precisely calibrated mayhem that trusts the audience to keep up.

But The knowingness can feel suffocating—not everyone wants to work this hard to get the joke.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998

Ritchie's debut, where London criminals collide in interconnected schemes. Raw energy, dense plotting, and the pleasure of watching talented people outsmart each other.

But The cockney dialogue is nearly subtitled for good reason; some scenes vanish into unintelligibility.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster

Game Night2018

An underrated thriller-comedy with Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams solving a real murder disguised as a game. Genre-smart without being exhausting about it, and genuinely suspenseful.

But Tonal whiplash between comedy and actual stakes alienates viewers expecting one thing or the other.

Midnight Run1988

Both are essentially two-character studies disguised as crime capers; the real film is the partnership that forms through reluctant proximity.

Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin as a bounty hunter and his quarry, bickering across America. A buddy comedy wrapped around a fugitive plot, where the real journey is watching two men wear each other down into friendship.

But It's longer than it feels like it should be, with stretches of pure talky padding that test patience.

The Ladykillers2004

Both hinge on criminals undone by their supposed social inferiors; both find comedy in the gap between what crooks think will happen and what actually does.

Tom Hanks leading a crew of thieves disguised as musicians, outmanoeuvred at every turn by their elderly landlady (Irma P. Hall). The Coen Brothers at their most cartoonish, with Hanks having visible fun being terrible.

But The broad Southern-fried humour won't land for everyone; if you don't vibe with the accent comedy, nothing lands.