ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY FEBRUARY 16th 2001

Spring Movie Preview:  Tomcats

For O'Connell, "Tomcats" wasn't really a crazy envelope-pushing sex comedy: it was more like a sober documentary filmmaking.  "This is what we call NAN: No Acting Necessary," says the 26-year-old veteran of "Jerry Maguire" and "Mission to Mars".  "Guys who make a bet where the last bachelor standing gets the pot?  That's par for the course for me."  Whoa, there, Jer - you sure you want that in print? After all, you're playing a debt-laden commitment-phobe who schemes with a stone-cold fox (Shannon Elizabeth) to marry off his rich friend (Jake Busey) in order to win said wager.  "I am basically the same player I play in the movie," O'Connell admits, adding that when it came to his kissing scenes with costar Elizabeth (American Pie), "I had to do everything in my power to remind myself that this is a job - she's not into me."  Will audiences have the stomach for a Tom Green-inspired gag involving a cancerous testicle?  And will they accept "Politically Incorrect's" Bill Maher as a sleazy casino owner?  For those keeping score at home, the answers are "probably" and "absolutely."

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