Allen delivers comedy with class

By Nicole Rodriguez

"I think I need to see a note from your teacher," Tim Allen jokes as he settles himself into a chair. He picks up my tape recorder and slyly mumbles, "Security, I need security to get this kid out of here," and then proceeds to break into a fit of laughter.

Allen's life, however, hasn't always been a laughing matter. In 1978 he was arrested on drug charges and served two years in jail. It was upon his release that Allen turned his life around. On a bet, he began doing stand-up comedy in Detroit. It was this that allowed Allen to begin his now-historic television series "Home Improvement."

"Invariably I'm attracted to stuff about families," Allen admits. "'Home Improvement' was like that. We did a show that was competing with shows that could talk about anything, and we couldn't because we were a family show.

"I'm a comedian who talks about everything," Allen continues. "I still am. I enjoy adult comedy, but I really enjoy the challenge of making a movie you can watch with a kid. I have a kid and it's impossible to watch anything with her, except for 'Sponge Bob' on occasion."

His latest attempt at clean comedy is Nov. 1st's "The Santa Clause 2," the sequel to the 1994 smash hit in which Allen plays Scott Calvin, a man who gets tricked into being the next Santa Claus after the original falls off a roof.

"This movie didn't lower the bar (of comedy standards), it moved it back into position," Allen says proudly.

No matter how proud he is of his own film, Allen is disappointed with what Hollywood is producing in general.

"To tell you the truth, it's really hard to make a movie that's any kind of success that doesn't kill anybody," says Allen. "I just saw a movie where two guys flew off motorcycles and hit each other at 90 miles per hour. This just doesn't happen. Superman would watch that and go 'ow!'"

"It's tremendously difficult for a guy who loves film to watch that," Allen admits. "It 's technique over substance. Movies have become illusions of illusions. Movies need to be based on some sort of reality. The funniest thing I ever did was 'Galaxy Quest' where we parodied all of that."

Allen assures that despite the downfall of the genre, he is always up for a good action flick.

"'The Bourne Identity' takes (action) films back to where they used to be," says Allen, who ranks "Terminator 2" as one of his favorite films. "There's the obligatory car chase and there's a lot of people crashing through windows, but it's a compelling story and I really enjoyed that."

However much he loves the action genre, Allen predicts he will continue working in comedy for the time being.

"I don't do anything based on what my audience is," says Allen, "it just happens. When a studio comes up with a sci-fi action adventure with aliens, Tim Allen is not their first choice. If you want to do a goofy, big thing for the family there's about four people you go to, and I'm one of them." He laughs. "And certainly I didn't do anything to help that by cementing myself as Santa Claus."

However, Michael Lembeck, Allen's director in "The Santa Clause 2," doesn't see this as a negative thing.

"Comedy players are my favorite actors. They are the bravest people in the world because they put their ass on the line every time. If they don't get a laugh, they have to dust themselves off, get up off the floor and do it again. They are the bravest people that exist, and the most under-acknowledged, " says Lembeck (who previously directed the comedy series "Friends"). Of all the comics he's worked with, Lembeck rates Allen at the top of his list.

"Tim has a great bag of skills. He's a consummate pro, he knows how to work, how to go about his work, he 's very generous with other actors and he's very skilled," says Lembeck.

"I think he's an underrated actor, if that's possible," says "Santa Clause 2" co-star Elizabeth Mitchell. "He cares and he gets in there. He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his character, and he paid attention to every detail to get what he wanted."

Her smile broadens as she reflects back upon her experiences with Allen. "He' s just capable of so much," she says.

As for whether he plans to continue in the film business or return to the television medium that made him a household name, Allen replies, "I love entertaining, it doesn't matter what venue. I like live, TV, boats." He begins laughing, "I like all my performances in Cirque du Soleil the best. Do you remember me? I'm the guy that hangs with the ropes. You can't tell from a distance, but I'm the one with the really nice physique."

At the end of the day , Allen is happy with the choices he's made. "I have no regrets," he says.