The Big Picture

• The Pacifier shows a different side of Vin Diesel's acting style, highlighting his emotionless portrayal as a Navy SEAL turned babysitter.
• Despite having a typical plot for tough guy meets kids movies, The Pacifier stands out due to Diesel's unique performance and unexpected character development.
• The movie's failure actually unveils a deeper character study of Vin Diesel, showcasing his versatility beyond the action hero roles he is known for.

In what role is action movie legend Vin Diesel the most badass? His ongoing work in the Fast and Furious franchise, with its flipping, flaming cars? Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick, with their unstoppable, night-visioned antihero? No, of course not! Because Vin Deisel's role — the one that best demonstrates his immutable virility — is none other than Disney's family-friendly offering The Pacifier. As a Navy SEAL turned long-term babysitter, Vin Diesel maintains his monotone effect throughout the put-upon chaos he's supposed to be mugging for. It increases the sense of dissonance that haunts the entire film: Even if you can suspend your disbelief in the movie's plot, you don't see a character on screen. You see Vin Diesel. Thankfully, among so many other action-hero-becomes a-family-man-movies, that becomes this movie's strength. (Pun intended).

In 'The Pacifier,' Vin Diesel Plays a Tough Guy on a Trike

The Pacifier, released in 2005, is far from the last film in the tradition of tough-guy-meets-kids movies. You're probably already picturing the way one might unfold: A big man (firefighter, an army medic, etc.) is all about being macho. He's devoted his life to doing rugged things, like deep-water fishing and shooting at targets. But then, suddenly, there's a change: He has to take care of a family! Suddenly, all those military skills aren't coming in very handy, and our protagonist has to make peace with his soft side. These kinds of quasi-comedies have been strangely immortal since the '90s, even if their popularity has waned: Kindergarten Cop with Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Game Plan and The Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson (as well as a sequel with Larry the Cable Guy), and Playing with Fire starring John Cena, all fit the bill.

It's not as if their plots vary greatly from The Pacifier's either: When Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe (Diesel) fails to rescue a scientist, he's assigned instead to protect his children. Zoe (Brittany Snow), Lulu (Morgan York), and Seth (Max Thieriot) head up the gang of five kids. Predictably, the movie follows Shane's adaptation to substitute fatherhood. So what makes The Pacifier so special? What allows it to live rent-free in so many heads? It has something the others don't: Dominic Toretto.

What Was Vin Diesel's Career Like Before 'The Pacifier'?

The spring of 2005 would bring with it a whole new meaning to Vin Diesel's utterance of family. At that point (as well as now), Diesel was best known for his work in the Fast and Furious movies. Since 2001's The Fast and the Furious, Diesel has played the head of a "family" of street racers. The role of Dominic "Dom" Torretto is a perfect fit for Diesel, allowing his physical presence to personify his character as much as his dialogue. But his life as an action star is predated by some very interesting and eclectic career moves. Before his days of vinyl wrapping and whipping around corners, Diesel had struggled to find a foothold in Hollywood. Being multiracial made it difficult to find roles, especially in the '90s. So, if they wouldn't cast him, Diesel decided, he would cast himself.

The result, 1994's Multifacial, a semi-autobiographical short film, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Diesel later funded a 1997 project, the feature-length Strays, which was selected for Sundance. In a stroke of fate, acclaimed director Steven Spielberg saw the short and cast him in the wartime epic Saving Private Ryan. Diesel was officially a Hollywood actor and went on to star in both The Iron Giant and Pitch Black, movies still remembered as groundbreaking today. In short, before 2006, Diesel was actually a very nuanced actor. He'd earned his stripes on the indie circuit: It was time for something a little weirder.

What Makes 'The Pacifier' So Memorable?

Though The Pacifier kicks off like most movies of its ilk, with a truly cool sequence of the failed rescue attempt, it really goes off the rails when Shane finds a Nazi flag in Seth's bag. It's played, understandably, as a serious moment — a time for Diesel to become a parent. Instead, it's just a reminder that the film doesn't quite have a handle on its numerous life lessons. (Adding to the chaos, there's a pet duck running around.) It turns out that the flag is actually just a prop for a school production of The Sound of Music, but that doesn't do much to dampen the shock of seeing it onscreen in this PG-rated movie. This isn't the only poor filmmaking decision: The secret bad guys turn out to be the family's (North) Korean neighbors, a plot point that includes plenty of awful stereotypes. These dents are strange ones in an otherwise boring Disney story. The rest of the movie isn't as shocking, but it is entertaining: An exercise in character development with the added humor of a messy house on top. Shane teaches Girl Scouts how to defend their cookie sales with martial arts. He challenges the kids' wrestling coach (Brad Garett) to a wrestling match and wins. It's almost as if Diesel's been dropped via helicopter into another movie universe — one in which he doesn't fully belong.

The Pacifier attempts to fashion itself as a heartwarming lesson in parenthood, a fish-out-of-water story for kids who've seen Fast and Furious on their big brother's X-box. While it does meet some of those parameters, Diesel's strange, emotionless performance belies the true value of The Pacifier: The fact that it doesn't work. In its failure, the movie transforms into a Vin Diesel character study. The private, tortured pain of a wounded SEAL is hidden behind Shane's brown eyes, and Vin Diesel's not fooling us. No amount of dirty diapers can heal those battle scars, and no amount of singing children to sleep can erase what he's seen. Watching him muddle his way around a suburban house, it almost feels as if one is glimpsing a story within a story — reading between the lines to find some hidden truth. Diesel has always put in a different performance than the typical leading man, but at this point in Hollywood history, he's mostly known for one long-running role. (Or two, if you're a Riddick fan.) The Pacifier was a critical failure, but it still serves a good purpose — reminding us that Vin Diesel is much more than just an action hero. He's a Hollywood treasure.

The Pacifier is now available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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