Development

John Scott Shepherd, who wrote the film's script, had previous experience in advertising as a film and video producer. Shepherd was inspired to write a screenplay about those experiences and the people who have to work behind the scenes in corporate America. "It occurred to me that we all expect to be special, if not famous," recalled Shepherd.^[2] The screenplay caught the attention of Kopelson Entertainment executive Matthew Gross, who first read the script while working on a television pilot with Shepherd. Gross passed the script on to his bosses, Anne and Arnold Kopelson, who gave Gross full support with the project.^[2]

The role of Joe Scheffer was initially offered to Jim Carrey, but he decided to join the 2001 film The Majestic instead.^[3][4] The screenplay's balance of comedy and drama intrigued actor Tim Allen, known for the television series Home Improvement and such films as Galaxy Quest (1999) and The Santa Clause (1994). Allen was searching for a project that was more than just broad comedy, and felt Joe Somebody would allow him to exhibit his comedic and dramatic skills.^[2] Of the script, Allen noted, "the story has a lot of heart to it, and an emotion that I really love."^[2] Producer Brian Reilly, who partners with Allen on his films, commented that "Tim's previous roles did not have the kind of emotional truth or intimacy on screen called for by Joe Somebody. Tim has now reached a time in his life when it's right for him to do a film with rich and shaded characters."^[2] With Allen on board, the studio executives began to search for a director for the film. After reading the script and discussing the details with Allen, Reilly, and numerous studio execs, John Pasquin, who had worked with Allen on Home Improvement, Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), and The Santa Clause, agreed to direct.^[2]

Filming

Filming began on April 9, 2001.^[5] The entire film was shot in Minnesota, with a majority of the shoot divided between the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.^[2][6] Screenwriter Shepherd spent many years working in the Twin Cities, becoming very familiar with the area in the process.^[2] Gross reflected on the city: "Minneapolis is a major player in this film, which can be seen in the cast, the background players and the locations. It was written for the city."^[2] The film was shot in fifty-four days on over thirty locations.^[2] Joe Scheffer's workplace was shot at Waterford Towers in Plymouth, Minnesota. Production designer Jackson De Govia transformed the fourth floor of the New Age office building into a drop ceiling corporate environment, which serves as a community to its employees.^[2] The Club 13 scenes were filmed at the Grand Hotel Minneapolis, while the karaoke scenes were shot at Grumpy's Bar & Grill, both in Minneapolis.^[7][8] The scenes of Tim Allen and Patrick Warburton racing their shopping carts were shot at the Target store in North St. Paul.^[9] The scenes taking place at Scarett's gym were filmed in the city of Richfield.^[8] The final playground scene was shot at Central Lutheran School in Saint Paul. Other scenes were shot in the cities of Crystal and St. Paul.^[8]

There was originally to be a title sequence of a number office workers getting to know the corporate structure. For timing purposes, the title sequence was instead spread over the film's first two scenes.^[10] The young girls in the "Bring Your Daughter To Work Day" video Joe can be seen working on in the beginning of the film were all daughters of various film crew members.^[10] The original fight between Joe and Mark was shot over two days in Minneapolis, which made it somewhat difficult to match up the colors in the processing stage of editing during post-production.^[10] Halfway through the shooting of the martial arts scenes, Tim Allen's arms became painfully bruised.^[11] Due to his injuries, Allen began to wear pads on his arms, which is why he is seen wearing them during training from the middle of the film on. Shooting finished on June 16, 2001.^[5]

Box office

Joe Somebody opened on December 21, 2001, ranking number ten at the box office, and earning $3,553,725 in its opening weekend in 2,506 theaters.^[12] Outside of the U.S., the film was most successful in Mexico, grossing a total of $917,266 in box office sales.^[13] Joe Somebody went on to gross $22.7 million in the U.S. box office and $1.7 million in foreign countries, totaling $24.5 million in box office sales.^[1] Most of the blame for the film's disappointing returns could be attributed to three blockbuster films in theaters at the time: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Ocean's Eleven.

Home media

The film was released to home video in the U.S. on August 20, 2002.^[5] Features on the DVD release include a commentary track featuring director John Pasquin and producer Brian Reilly, a fight choreography featurette, four deleted scenes with optional commentary, and the film's theatrical trailer.^[14]

Critical response

The film received a two-and-a-half star rating from the Allmovie film review website.^[15] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 43 based on 22 reviews.^[16] From review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 85 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Amiable, but extremely lightweight and predictable."^[17]

Scott Foundas at Variety calls the film "pleasant," and gives much credit to director Pasquin. Although Foundas refers to the screenplay as "bland," he states that Pasquin has a "deft touch" when working with the material. Foundas also gives high marks to Allen's work in the picture, calling his presence the "pic's winningest asset."^[18] Steve Simels at TV Guide writes that the film "has genuine wit and pathos," some well drawn characters, "and a couple of sly comic performances." However, Simels did state that "none of these virtues can completely compensate for the film's utterly conventional message of uplift." Simels gave praise to some of the lead performances, crediting Greg Germann in particular for nearly stealing the film, calling his portrayal "truly a marvel to behold."^[19] Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly called the film a "standard-transmission vehicle;" she gives credit, however, to star Allen's performance, saying that the character he plays in the film "just so happens to be the kind of average-Joe character that continues to make Allen such a tidy, non-Joe bundle."^[20]

Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle believed the film to be "an odd picture, a rumination on depression and self-discovery that's couched as an office comedy." Although Meyer said that the film is "never truly funny or insightful," she did give the picture some credit, stating that "the movie works intermittently by digging a little deeper than you might expect." Meyer also approved of the performances of Allen, Belushi, and Warburton.^[21] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of five, likening it to "an afterschool special, with grownups cast in the kids' roles." Ebert also called the film "crashingly obvious," later remarking that the audience is "faced with the dismal prospect of being denied a climax, which, if it occurred, would be just as predictable as its substitute."^[22]

Awards and nominations