The Pacifier (2005)

20% of critics liked it
(128 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(363,891 ratings)

The toughest man in the American military faces a new kind of challenge -- looking after four kids in soccer-mom suburbia -- in this family-friendly comedy from Walt Disney Pictures. Shane Wolf (Vin Diesel) is a former Navy SEAL who was assigned to protect a scientist working on a top-secret defense… More The toughest man in the American military faces a new kind of challenge -- looking after four kids in soccer-mom suburbia -- in this family-friendly comedy from Walt Disney Pictures. Shane Wolf (Vin Diesel) is a former Navy SEAL who was assigned to protect a scientist working on a top-secret defense project for the government. Despite Wolf's efforts, however, an assassin slipped past him and murdered the man he was guarding. The inventor's project is still being stored in his home, so Wolf has now been assigned to protect Julie (Faith Ford), the scientist's widow, as well as her four children, Zoe (Brittany Snow), Seth (Max Thieriot), Lulu (Morgan York), and baby Peter (Kegan Hoover and Logan Hoover). Wolf has had years of military experience in some of the most dangerous places on Earth, but he doesn't know much about raising kids, and he soon discovers his new job demands he be a nanny as much as a bodyguard. The Pacifier also co-stars Brad Garrett, Lauren Graham, and Carol Kane. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Adam Shankman, Adam Shankman
Written By: Thomas Lennon, Robert Ben Garant
Genres: Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 4, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Jun 28, 2005
Studio: Buena Vista

Critic Reviews

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
There is no pleasure, guilty or otherwise, to be found in The Pacifier.
Laura Sinagra, Village Voice
[An] unintentional fascist satire.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
A yawn-by-numbers romper-room dud that is nevertheless shrewd enough to tweak its star, Vin Diesel, for becoming a joke in less time than it took him to become an action hero.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
It's so awful. This reminds me, every once in a while on television they'll show failed sitcom pilots that never got picked up by the networks, and this has the feel of something like that.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Of course it's a PG movie, but do family audiences deserve stupid and trite stories?
Mike Clark, USA Today
The Pacifier is low on Diesel fuel, though probably amusing enough if you're part of the intended demographic.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
A crass, crude, and overly-familiar comedy.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
It might have been a good career move for Diesel, who cut his teeth on high-octane action, but the script needs a lift and the direction feels lackluster.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
Diesel has amply shown his star presence already, and he may even have a flair for comedy (if Hulk Hogan did, why shouldn't he?), but he gets no chance to prove it here.
Nigel Floyd, Time Out New York
Per its title, The Pacifier will lull you to sleep.
Mary Lasse, Christianity Today
It's almost as if the writers got carried away with brainstorming all the funny things they could do with Vin Diesel's character.
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
full review in Greek
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
At one point, Diesel literally wades into a rancid sewer and emerges covered in feces, an image that sadly doubles as a metaphor for his career.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
a nice, safe family film
Scott Weinberg, DVD Clinic
Frankly, to call The Pacifier a "cookie cutter" movie is an insult to the folks who actually make cookie cutters.
Dan Chant, FilmFocus
The film doesn't succeed on any level.
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central
I realize this is The Pacifier and not Vera Drake, but how this film strains credulity smacks of contempt for a paying audience
Uri Lessing, eFilmCritic.com
Children under the age of 12 and teenagers who never set foot in a library might get some cheap thrills out of this refuse.
Anna Smith, Empire Magazine
Fails on both an emotional and comedic level.

Read all 19 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Brad W

The Pacifier sucked, it was boring, badly acted, and terrible action, and one of the worst films ever made.
Liam G

Embarassing
Alexander D

OK+
Bethany M

Hysterical. Vin Diesel played a fantastic nanny and it's a nice heartfelt film that will have you smiling from start to finish.
Conner R

Vin Diesel doesn't manage to achieve maximum hulkage in this, but he follows the career of Arnold and gets in touch with a younger audience. It's a fun movie that does have it's corny moments, but most of the time it's Vin Diesel causing trouble and being mean to… More
Vin Diesel doesn't manage to achieve maximum hulkage in this, but he follows the career of Arnold and gets in touch with a younger audience. It's a fun movie that does have it's corny moments, but most of the time it's Vin Diesel causing trouble and being mean to kids. What's really scary is when he becomes a caring and understanding person, this is uncharted territory for Vin Diesel. Somehow he manages to pull it off and save the day.
Richard C

D
KJ P

The Pacifier does right what every bad family comedy does wrong! I actually cared for these characters, and the plot was pretty inventive even though I have seen it before. I loved how touching it was at the end, and how everything blended together so well!
Dead A

This was funny. A good family movie.
Chris W

This movie offers up lots of cliches and predictability, and a less than stellar script- but I cannot lie, part of me just cannot say no to a movie that makes a tough guy play a softie. The best example is Kindergarten Cop. This is not a great movie (unlike that one), but I laughed,… More
This movie offers up lots of cliches and predictability, and a less than stellar script- but I cannot lie, part of me just cannot say no to a movie that makes a tough guy play a softie. The best example is Kindergarten Cop. This is not a great movie (unlike that one), but I laughed, as some of it is really funny. Diesel does a decent job considring the material. I also liked seeing Carol Kane and Lauren Graham. Some of the child actors are also not bad.
Al S

Hilarious in every way in the tradition of Kindegardon Cop. A wild, wickedly enjoyable and outragious comedy. Cant beat family fun. Vin Diesel brings his action hero talents to physical comedy and has plenty of charisma
Film C

i love this movie theres nothing more funnier than a ard nut military person babysitting some out of control kids! its brilliant its funny exciting cute and just really worth a watch!
Coxxie M

this is terrible. just terrible. but i watched it on my vacation to myrtle beach so its worth a star. Vin Diesel sounds like a slightly more understandable Stallone
Dean M

This is a fine family-friendly action-comedy. Vin Diesel is unexpectedly charming as the tough agent who has to babysite five kids. Mild, ninja-attack action mixes with tradional, enjoyable domestic chaos - check out the duck that thinks it's a guard dog.
Luke B

When you spend your entire career building yourself up as a hard man how hilarious would it be to star as a hard man but in a soft and gentle kids film? HAHAHA, about as funny as Mr. Nanny and Kindergarden Cop. In all fairness it is slightly funnier and there is an air of 80's… More
When you spend your entire career building yourself up as a hard man how hilarious would it be to star as a hard man but in a soft and gentle kids film? HAHAHA, about as funny as Mr. Nanny and Kindergarden Cop. In all fairness it is slightly funnier and there is an air of 80's dodgy nostalgia creeping in. Vin is actually quite good but I only wish the duck had more screentime.
EightThirty .

Ultra Cool, A best choice for Family Entertainment ^_^
Dean L

Wow...and you turned down XXX II? This was so bad that it is hardly worthy of a review. Watch Kindergarten Cop to see what this movie wanted to be and pass on this.
Rachel F

Cute movie.
Jose Z

it was funny watching Vin Diesel having fun and making a mockery of himself . I was funny and perfect for all ages
Drew S

Yeah, uh. Vin Diesel. Stick to the action movies.
Khris N

Vin Diesel isnt really 'cut' for comedies but does okay in this kids flick. Some good humor and kiddie safe action keeps him in line - and Brad Garret from Everyone Loves Raymond is a scene stealer. okay for a one off or for kids.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

            Lauren Graham as Principal Claire Fletcher

            Vin Diesel as Shane Wolf

            Faith Ford as Julie Plummer

            Brittany Snow as Zoe

            Chris Potter as Capt. Bill Fawcett

            Morgan York as Lulu

            Scott Thompson as Director

            Carol Kane as Helga

            Brad Garrett as Vice Principal Murney

            Denis Akiyama as Mr. Chun

            Tsui Mung-Ling as Mrs. Chun

            Tate Donovan as Howard Plummer

            Billy Oliver as Male Customer

            David Smukler as Dialect Coach

            Shane Cardwell as Teacher

            Charlie Haugk as Stagehand

            David Lipper as Cute Cop

            Kyle Schmid as Scott

            Matt Purdy as Wrestler

            David Sparrow as FBI Agent

            Jeff Podgurski as Serbian

            Seth Howard as Wood Woodchuck Manager

            Valerie Boyle as Nuns-nazis

            Tommy Chang as Showroom Cleaner

            Jean Pearson as Swiss Banker

            John MacDonald as Car Salesman

            Taryn Ash as Female Customer

            Hank Amos as Serbian Gunner

            Robert Thomas as Construction Worker

            Silver Kim as Nun

            Catherine Burdon as Teacher

            Alison Lynn as Maria

            Keegan Hoover as Peter

            Logan Hoover as Peter

            Bo Vink as Baby Tyler

            Luke Vink as Baby Tyler

            Gabriel Antonacci as Capt. Von Trapp

            Mary Pitt as Brigitta

            Dan Sutcliffe as Friedrich

            Vanessa Cobham as Gretl

            Jordan Allison as Kurt

            Rachael Dolan as Louisa

            Charlotte Szivak as Marta

            Toya Alexis as Mother Abbess

            Karla Jang as Nun

            Robert Yeretch as Nazis

            Scott Hurst as Nazi

            Christie Allaire as Cheerleader

            Stephanie Allaire as Cheerleader

            Amy Allicock as Cheerleader

            Helena Chow as Cheerleader

            Joella Crichton as Cheerleader

            Laura Jeanes as Cheerleader

            Rebecca Priestley as Cheerleader

            Alexander Conti as Little Boy

            Tip Fong as Cute Cop's Partner

            Maria Georgas as Fireflies

            Nikki Shah as Fireflies

            Jordan Todosey as Fireflies

            Emi Yaguchi-Chow as Fireflies

            Demetrius Joyette as First Junior Grizzly

            Christopher Lortie as Second Junior Grizzly

            Sotiri Georgas as Grizzlies

            Steven Georgas as Grizzlies

            Gannon Racki as Grizzlies

            Marcus Hutchings as FBI Agent

            Miriam Laurence as Dialect Coach

            Christian Laurin as Marcel

            Curtis Parker as Wrestler

            Cade Courtley as Wyatt (Navy S.E.A.L. #2)

            Michael Quintero as Navy S.E.A.L #3

            Cameron Hickox as Navy S.E.A.L #4

            Cassius Clay as Boat Captain

            F. Valentino Morales as Serbian

            Scott Reiff as Serbian Pilot

            Robert Bastens as Vin Diesel Stand In

            Evelyn Kaye as Piano Accompanist
See full cast