BLUE STREAK *** (out of five stars) A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, Peter Greene and William Forsythe Director-Les Mayfield Rated PG Sony
MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton
http://Welcome.to/MovieViews
Blue Streak, while not to be mistaken for a cinematic masterpiece, is a moderately amusing diversion. It circulates around a familiar fish-out-of-water plot, has the regular cardboard characters, and never does anything special with the formula. But energetic star Martin Lawrence is fun to watch, and although a large portion of Blue Streak is messy and poorly assembled, it's sure to be an audience favorite. You could call it Rush Hour's little brother (without Jackie Chan, of course).
The film starts on a high note. Miles Logan (Lawrence) and his burglary team are in the process of pulling off the heist of a priceless diamond. Due to certain complications, the plan goes awry, and the vicious Deacon (Peter Greene) double-crosses Logan for a bigger share of the profits. Miles is able to escape the surrounding police and enter a separate building, where he tapes the diamond to the interior of a ventilation shaft for safe keeping. It's off to jail for Logan and his associates, but after his short term is over, Miles knows he's going to be a very wealthy man.
Two years later, as we are informed, he is out of the slammer and looking for redemption. He ventures over to the location of his priceless rock, only to realize that (*gasp*) it has become a police station!! Dressed as a nerdy pizza delivery boy with massive incisors, Logan is denied entry, and informed that the only ones permitted are those `wearing hand-cuffs or a badge'. Luckily, Logan has connections, and is able to get his hands on a fake ID that will enable him to enter the station and retrieve his stolen goods. It all sounds so very easy.....
Logan's new partner, Carlson (Luke Wilson), is a bumbling idiot who can hardly drive. Then again, everyone in the police force must have a very unflattering IQ to actually believe that Lawrence is indeed a dedicated cop, despite the fact he has no past records on file. These people are so stupid that they actually promote the impostor to lead detective in the burglary division. They call him a `super cop', even though he hasn't a clue what a P-31 is. And naturally, Logan continues to dig himself deeper into the unbelievable mess while attempting to locate his diamond.
Blue Streak never breaks formula, but it delivers the goods in a reasonable fashion. The situation develops nicely and often blends seamlessly to the audience's liking. The comedy is inconsistent, to say the least, but when director Les Mayfield (Flubber) is on target, there are some fireworks. In the supporting category, Peter Greene is completely under-used in the psychotic bad guy role, and motor-mouth David Chappelle has the effect of fingernails across a blackboard. Only Wilson and William Forsythe, as another hard-nosed cop, register alongside the star.
Which brings us to Martin Lawrence, who injects energy into the plot like bursts of Ritlin. If you hate Lawrence and everything he does, do not even consider seeing Blue Streak. It is a Martin Lawrence movie, where everyone else plays second fiddle. But if you have a special place in your heart for the comic and enjoy his goofy shtick, you are going to have a lot of fun. The star is enthusiastic and likable, and rarely shows signs of desperation even with the occasionally weak material.
There is also a healthy dose of action, well choreographed by Mayfield and the remaining technical team. In-between gags there are breathless car-chases, all of which exist for the purpose of making us forget the mediocre plot and dialogue. Do they succeed? It all depends on whether you enjoy this kind of thing. I was diverted enough by Lawrence's abounding energy that I dismissed the gaping plot holes, sat back, and had some fun. Despite all of it's flaws and an unsatisfying wrap-up, Blue Streak never loses the ability to entertain.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton http://Welcome.to/MovieViews <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Send Your Comments to Jamey at:
movieviews@hotmail.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews