A somewhat different take on the hit man comedy. Overall, lots of fun, with some pleasant plot twists.

Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky (Matthew Perry) is a dentist originally from Chicago, now living in suburban Montreal, with his wife Sophie (Rosanna Arquette) and her mother. It seems that the move to Montreal was necessary after Oz's former partner--his father-in-law--embezzled lots of money, died, and left the rest of the group in debt.

Oz is mostly miserable, given Sophie's shrewish behavior, and her personality combining extreme greed with utter sloth. Not a pretty picture. Indeed, Oseransky's dental assistant Jill (Amanda Peet) wonders why Oz just doesn't "leave the bitch." He'd love to, of course, but there's the debt and the fact that Sophie won't give him a divorce.

All this changes when Oz discovers that his new neighbor is none other than Jimmy Tudeski (Bruce Willis), a hitman from Chicago, who ratted out his former boss. Just released from prison, Jimmy is so tough that he refused the witness protection program.

Sophie convinces Oz to travel to Chicago for the purpose of revealing Tudeski's whereabouts to gangster Janni Gogolak (Kevin Pollak), son of the mob boss betrayed by Jimmy. He is reluctant to do this, but the prospect of a finder's fee, that would get rid of Sophie, proves irresistible. But how will he make contact with Janni?

Not a problem. As soon as Oz enters his Chicago hotel room, he is confronted by the humongous Frankie Figs (Michael Clarke Duncan), who takes him to Janni. At this meeting, he makes the acquaintance of Jimmy's estranged wife Cynthia (Natasha Henstridge), and immediately falls in love.

Totally in character, Sophie plots a double cross by informing Jimmy of what Oz is doing. This way, she can cash in on her husband's life insurance policy once Jimmy kills him, or so she thinks.

The "whole nine yards" refers to an account containing $10 million, that can only be closed and redeemed to Janni, Jimmy, and Cynthia collectively--OR to one or two of these people with the death certificate of the missing person(s).

Thus, Janni plans to go to Montreal, take care of Jimmy, and take care of business. Cynthia is starting to warm up to Oz, and is convinced that they will both be killed after Gogolak whacks Tudeski. They need to figure something out...

Feeling remorseful, Oz phones Jimmy to clue him in on the planned hit. Strangely, Jimmy seems relaxed, and tells Oz not to worry.

Back in Chicago, Frankie is shown to be in cahoots with Jimmy, and a counter plan is worked out, to foil the hit on Jimmy. Entering the fray is Jill, who is a "hitter," too, although just a beginner. She was hired by Sophie to kill Oz, but she just can't do it. Instead, she teams up with Jimmy.

Janni's attack on Tudeski's house occurs, but this is hardly a surprise. Janni and his henchmen are killed, along with another hitman Buffalo Steve (Harland Williams), who is actually a shady undercover cop. Steve was hired by Sophie to whack Oz that same night.

Oz's dental skills are the key to working it all out, and the protagonists live happily and richly ever after.

The great jazz during the closing credits in an additional cool touch.

Here's a discussion of the derivation of the expression "Whole Nine Yards."