Top Five

Chris Rock gives us something unexpected

We follow Andre Allen (Chris Rock), a celebrity that got his start doing stand up comedy, moved to doing comedic movies, and now wants to be taken seriously as an actor. He is to be married to a reality television star named Erica Long (Gabrielle Union), who controls his life and is making their union all about the show. On the cusp of the release for his first serious film he meets Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson), a writer for the New York Times sent to get an interview. During this interview she challenges him with serious questions as a fan of his old stand up work, wondering why he isn't funny and why he doesn't want to be anymore.

So, the only way I can compare this movie to something else out there right now is by saying that this is a different version of Funny People. Which may sound like an insult, but trust me it is not. I liked Funny People and this is just looking at the celebrity lifestyle in a different lens. Instead of trying to regale you with drama, they attempted comedy, and the result has me a little skewed. I liked this movie, even though I didn't really laugh a lot. It had its funny moments, but I might not have been the target audience for some of the jokes. Which has me skewed because I am a big fan of Chris Rock's stand up. Maybe it was the threesome joke, the gay joke, or maybe this just wasn't something I was supposed to laugh my way through, regardless I respected the story, even if it wasn't necessarily the funniest movie I have seen. This movie was just a great tale, with interesting directing, and some points of well rounded acting. I loved the characters, I loved the slight jabs at the entertainment industry, I loved the "back to my old stomping ground" moments, and I loved that this movie had a character that took the piss out of reality television stars. Don't get me wrong this movie wasn't perfect by any means. I didn't much care for the ending, I didn't have much care for the side characters, and there were some points that were just a bit to unbelievable (like, you are really going to sit here and tell me that you kissed a woman in on a street where not one person caught that on camera?).  Chris Rock has had his moments of ups and downs, but this movie is assuredly a rise up, despite the problems I had with it.

Chris Rock has definitely found out how to direct, not that I thought he was bad before; but now it seems like he at least has a style he can call his own. I liked the flash back scenes, they seemed to move well within the film. There were some shots that stood out in the film. Not like I was going to frame that still from the movie on my wall or anything, more like it just seemed to be more grounded in realism. In a movie that (I assume) is trying to make you think of this as real life, some of the shots were integral to bringing out the movies full potential, and it seemed like he nailed it.

Now for the acting.... the acting.... right. Well, let's start off with the good, the women in this production were the ones that stood out above anyone else. Rosario Dawson and Gabrielle Union were believable, and gave this movie some moments that were truly wonderful to behold. The rest of this cast is filled with a who's who of actors you haven't thought about in the last five years (at least five, if not more). That doesn't mean they did poorly, just that we have seen everything that they are bringing to the table. Cedric the Entertainer plays the "man with all of the connections," and he was good in that role, but I feel like I was transported back to the mid-2000's watching it. Tracy Morgan was present.... and that is about it. I like some of Tracy's stuff, but he never really took off with me. Chris rock showed us that one of the lines "you are a terrible actor" may have been a bit harsh, but not completely unwarranted. He had some good moments of acting, but those moments seemed to come from a more comedic place, the times he tried to play it straight were a bit of a drain.... than again maybe that was the point.

Final Verdict: See it in Theaters Some missteps with the story, as well as the acting took me out of the experience a couple of times; but, it w