"Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is a dentist whos former partner (also his father-in-law), before dying, embezzled large sums of money. Now Oz, with his wife Sophie (Rosanna Arquette) and his mother-in-law (Carmen Ferlan) are living in misery with large amounts of debt.
Owing to a loose-tongued plea-bargain, Jimmy 'The Tulip' Tudesky (Bruce Willis) is a 17-times-veteran contract killer fresh out of prison. But Jimmy declined witness protection, so for safety and good planting soil, he turned to a new life in Canada — next door to Oz.
Janni Gogolak (Kevin Pollak) is the son of Tudesky's ratted out crime-boss. He lives with multiple hit-men in Chicago and Tudesky's estranged wife (Natasha Henstridge).
From Oz's secretary to Gogolak, everyone seems to want or need someone dead for vengeance, money, or necessity. Who are the double agents? Who's going to live? Who's going to die? And which one would the cop turn out to be?
The Whole Nine Yards is a hysterical combination of Airplane and Goodfellas. The cast is unquestionably responsible for this. The innocent facial expressions of Perry, Willis' ability to deliver ludicrous lines with the utmost seriousness and the brilliantly overacted gangster of Pollak are undoubtedly factors contributing. But as hit-man and secretary, Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile) and Amanda Peet (Isn't She Great) are the real treats.
The ability to treat murder in such a hysterically nonchalant manner is another crucial factor in the success of the film. The Whole Nine Yards is boisterously exciting. This goes to show that when viewed in another way, a grade-A comedy ensemble may make great light of what was equally severe. The result is something that I have not seen in a long time: a fantastic date night movie.