Whether the sting and the movie work are two different questions. Jackson and Levy are in full sail as their most familiar character types: Jackson hard as nails, Levy oblivious to the world outside his own blissfully limited existence. They could play these characters in their sleep. Their differences provide the set-up for the whole movie: these two guys linked together in an unlikely partnership during which their personalities (and Fiddler's problems with intestinal gas) will make it difficult for them to share the front seat of Vann's customized Caddy.
"The Man" is very minor. The running time of 79 minutes indicates (a) thin material, and (b) mercy toward the audience, by not stretching it any further than what is already the breaking point. You know a movie like this is stalling for time when it supplies Agent Vann with a family so that his wife can call him in the middle of the action: "Your daughter wants to know if you'll be at her recital tonight." Yes, it's the ancient and sometimes reliable Dad Too Busy for Child's Big Moment formula. Does Vann wrap up the case in time to walk into the room just as the recital is beginning? Do he and his daughter exchange a quiet little nod to show family does, after all, come first? I would not dream of giving away such a plot detail.
Levy has funny moments as the fussy dental supplies fetishist, but never goes into full obnoxious mode as Joe Pesci did in "Lethal Weapon 2." He plays the character like a conventioneer trying to be nice to an alarming taxi driver. Jackson plays the cop like a man who has found a bug in the front seat of his car. What's interesting, however, is that they don't get locked into a lot of black-white shtick; their differences are defined through occupation, not race, except for the odd ethnic in-joke involving hot sauce.
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