War, Peace and Fun in "The Pacifier"

In an upscale Bethesda, Maryland neighborhood, brilliant and burly Navy S.E.A.L. Lt. Shane Wolfe (Vin Diesel) is protecting a government secret. As he changes diapers, totes five children to Costco in a minivan and serves as a little girls' scout troop leader, Shane Wolfe is serving his country. Though accused of "babysitting" by the high school wrestling coach (hairy and hilarious Brad Garrett), Wolfe is on active military duty while wearing a tool belt packed with juice boxes and warm milk bottles. Wolfe is on a mission-to protect the Plummer children from deadly foreign agents trying to steal a military program that their murdered scientist father created and hid inside their home.

Though often thwarted by wily teenagers Zoe (Brittany Snow) and Seth (Max Thieriot), challenged by elementary-schooler Lulu (Morgan York) and baffled by toddler Peter (Kegan and Logan Hoover) and baby Tyler (Bo and Luke Vink), Wolfe doesn't quit this unorthodox assignment. Instead, he takes it upon himself to become the proverbial super-mom, while taking periodic breaks to fight ninjas and check out everyone's criminal backgrounds on his ultra-special computer.Worlds collide when military man Wolfe and the suburbanite Plummer children are stuck together for a couple days while their mother, Julie Plummer (Faith Ford), tries to recover their most promising lead on the whereabouts of her late husband's program-called "Ghost"-from a safety deposit box in a Swiss bank. Her stay extends from a couple days to a couple weeks when she and military escort Capt. Bill Fawcett (Chris Potter) run into logistical issues. Wolfe is used to the orderliness of a military household (his father was also a soldier) and finds utter chaos with the Plummers. When he tries to reign the children in, the unruly teenagers fight back. Morals and messages taught by the film are smattered throughout the period of compromise and reconciliation.

The acting in "The Pacifier" is hardly sub-par. Vin Diesel keeps his characteristic gruffness while showing some soft spots and sensitivity. Youngster Morgan York ("Cheaper by the Dozen") shines as little Lulu, and film newcomers Brittany Snow (of TV fame "American Dreams") and Max Thieriot ("Catch That Kid") fill their moody, misunderstood roles with punchy charisma.

The fight scenes are very well done, and shockingly so for a children's movie. Wolfe nearly meets his match in a pair of black-masked ninjas in a complexly-choreographed tangle. The physical brawls would have sufficed without the appearance of two shiny silver guns at the end of the movie, but concerned parents can rest easy knowing neither belong to the good guys.

Surprisingly, "The Pacifier" isn't gimmicky or lame. It doesn't try too hard or even make you think Vin Diesel's career has gone down the drain. You might even say he's expanding his repertoire. As many films try but fail miserably to do, "The Pacifier" succeeds at being a movie that teaches multiple messages while truly being fun for the whole family.

"The Pacifier" (91 minutes) is rated PG-13 for action violence, language and rude humor.