Friday, December 12, 2014

Top Five Movie Review

Chris Rock directs and stars in Top Five

A Glimpse of Hilarity

Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Pulsing with the rhythm of his greatest stand-up, Chris Rock's TOP FIVE takes things to the next level, reveling in the high and the low, and blending a star-studded comedic romp with an irresistible romance. TOP FIVE digs under the surface of show business, politics, rap, and the exigencies of being black and famous today-holding it all up to the light in the way only Chris Rock can. Mingling echoes of Woody Allen and Dick Gregory with the energy of Kanye West and Jay Z, TOP FIVE is an original and radically new kind of American movie. Written, directed by, and starring Chris Rock, TOP FIVE tells the story of New York City comedian-turned-film star Andre Allen, whose unexpected encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson) forces him to confront the comedy career-and the past-that he's left behind. Starring Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer, J.B. Smoove, Sherri Shepherd, Anders Holm, Romany Malco, Leslie Jones, Michael Che, and Jay Pharoah. The film is produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush. The Co-Producers are Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Kanye West; the Executive Music Producer is Questlove.


What happened to Chris Rock? Everyone wants to know, and Rock tries to tell us in his directorial debut (uh-oh) but with mixed results. Worth seeing for a hilarious 2003 flashback that includes Cedric the Entertainer (AKA "the mother-fuckin' man in Houston) but the rom-com backdrop with Dawson is a disaster. Ditto for Rock's direction (or lack thereof.) Beware of overly loud music (a la Woody Allen) and almost every word out of Dawson's mouth, including 'Maybe I just got tired of waking up with strange dicks in my face.' Gross. That said, 5-10 minutes in Houston is absolutely hilarious.

GradeC+