“Man of the House” is next in the long line of not-so-prestigious films that juxtapose archetypal (or cliche) action heroes upon a typically mundane setting.

Purveyors of this tradition include “Kindergarten Cop” at best and “Suburban Commando” at worst. And although “Man of the House” isn’t as bad as the latter, it’s certainly not ranked very high either.

Tommy Lee Jones is Texas Ranger Sharpe, who is pretty much the same gruff character Jones portrayed in “The Fugitive” and “U.S. Marshals.” While pursuing an evil goatee-adorned criminal, Sharpe’s female partner is pointlessly and predictably wounded, which has some kind of emotional bearing on the emotionless Sharpe. Soon, Sharpe’s key lead is killed by the film’s surprise villain, who really isn’t much of a surprise. The only witnesses to this crime are, as fate would have it, chattering cheerleaders. Worlds collide when Sharpe is charged with watching the girls.

This movie doesn’t care enough to allow much time to put the names to the characters’ faces. Thus, I’ve been forced to improvise. As far as I can tell, there is World Weary Cheerleader, Overanxious Brainy Cheerleader, Passionate Hispanic Cheerleader and Fierce Self-Appointed Spokeswoman Cheerleader. The only cheerleader the movie centers on enough to name is Barbe, who is the straight-up stereotypical gum-chewing blonde bimbo. This approach shows the filmmakers don’t care enough about their characters to make them identifiable.

Throughout the course of this 97-minute movie, Sharpe bonds with each of the cheerleaders at various points, helping him improve both his love life and his relationship with his teenage daughter Emma.

Meanwhile, the surprise villain nears Sharpe’s location, plotting to tie up all loose ends in order to escape the wrath of his crime lord employer. Fortunately, the surprise villain uses all of his rather limited surprises before the end of the film, and the climax soon becomes anti-climactic and just plain tedious.

As the trailers show, Cedric the Entertainer has a role in the film. But what the trailer doesn’t reveal is Cedric’s role in the film is extremely limited. In fact, audiences probably see the bulk of Cedric’s part just from watching the trailer, which is something of a small mercy. Any more of Cedric’s annoying character, capable only of jokes involving out-of-shape cheerleading, would have brought this movie’s rating down one more star.

The movie is capable of genuine humor, which occurs throughout the bulk of the movie. Unfortunately, the movie quickly falls apart any time the less-than-stellar plot interferes. Jones proves he’s in his element even when he is completely out of his element, but there are a few times even he breaks character.

Overall, “Man of the House” proves to be genuinely funny in just about any part that doesn’t require plot or Cedric the Entertainer.