by Sekou
Directed by: |
Les Mayfield |
Writing Credits: |
Michael Berry; John Blumenthal |
Studio: |
Columbia Pictures |
Cast: |
Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Peter Greene, David Chappelle, Nicole Parker |
Word has it that Columbia Pictures removed the advanced
screening of Blue Streak from the Urbanworld Film
Festival in order to avoid press reviews. This last minute removal made a few of us nervous and even
apathetic about attending the scheduled press screenings. And for good reason. Usually, studios avoid
media coverage when they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that their film is a stink bomb of astronomical
proportions.
So it was with trepidation that blackfilm.com decided to ante up loot to see Martin do
his thing. It was unwarranted though. Who knows what Columbia Pictures was so scared. Blue Streak smoked the competition with a $19 million opening weekend. And,
even more important, it was pretty funny.
SYNOPSIS
Martin Lawrence returns to the big screen as a playful, wisecracking jewel thief (Miles Logan) with his
sights set on a diamond worth enough to set him and his robbing crew straight for life. But when the
heist goes awry and Lawrence gets arrested, he has no choice but to hide the rock and hope to find it
again once he gets out of jail. The problem? The abandoned building he stashed the diamond in has turned
into a police precinct in the interim. When Lawrence finally sneaks into the building in the guise of
an LAPD detective, all he has to do is find the diamond before they find out he's a fake, and keep the
ghosts of his past (who all want a slice of the pie) from catching up with him. In the process, Lawrence
creates some very humorous moments.
Though there are a few scenes that were intended to be funny that fall flat, Lawrence proves that he
is a master of keeping at a joke 'til he finally gets a laugh out of you. He is partnered with Luke
Wilson and Dave Chapplle-- two other known comic commodities-- but, at least in this film, neither is
well suited to match Lawrence's hyper-kinetic brand of humor. Had there been some other actors as
well-versed in comic timing, this could have easily been a roll-in-the-aisles-funny affair.
THESPIANS
All the roles here are pretty basic action/ comedy fare. Lawrence plays the reluctant hero well. This
time he's more convincing as a cop than some of his earlier roles. Dave Chapplle, usually a sure thing
for comic relief, isn't so funny here. He does have his moments but his character in the movie tends
to grate after a while. Tamala Jones makes a brief but funny appearance as the object of Lawrence's
unrequited love. And Nicole Ari Parker effectively portrays a nice lawyer for bad people.
CRITIQUE
Cute. I wasn't upset after spending my money and I feel safe telling anyone that they'll laugh out
loud at least once. They did do that thing were they showed you almost every single funny scene in the
previews but it was still fun to watch. Love him or hate him, when Martin is on, he can't be stopped.
Or more specifically, he can't be stopped from making you laugh.
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