Every time Samuel L. Jackson does a good movie, he turns around and does something like "Formula 51," also known
as "The 51st State" in other parts of the world. Jackson co-stars with Carlyle, who seems to have lost his comedic timing from the good old days of "The Full Monty."
"Formula 51" is about an American drug chemist who travels to Liverpool in search of a buyer for his perfect formula, a drug that is fifty times more potent than ecstasy. Of course, his ex-employer wants the formula for himself, so he sends a beautiful assassin to capture him. Along the way, the chemist teams up with an anti-American hoodlum.
Yes, the plot sounds fascinating, doesn''t it? Is it a comedy? Is it an action movie? Who knows (yes, I did watch the movie), but what I do know is that Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle are not action stars, and so that must mean this is meant to be a comedy... so where are the jokes?