(out of ****)
_Blue_Streak_ (PG-13) ** 1/2
_Simon_Sez_ (PG-13) no stars
Martin Lawrence is a talented comedian, but too often he gets stuck with creaky material, such as the script to the mediocre action comedy _Blue_Streak_. Lawrence plays Miles Logan, an expert jewel thief who poses as a cop to retrieve a diamond he unwittingly hid at a then-under-construction police station years ago. Far-fetched fish-out-of-water hijinks ensue, with Miles somehow getting promoted up the ranks and showing the ropes to a wet-behind-the-ears partner (Luke Wilson). There are a handful of funny lines and situations, but Lawrence is always better than the script, his charisma and infectious energy shining through, even during some forced set pieces such as one scene where Miles does an unfunny dance dressed as a pizza delivery boy.
Like _Blue_Streak_, once-great NBA rebounder Dennis Rodman's latest bid for big-screen stardom, _Simon_Sez_, is actually an _intentional_ comedy--but one quickly wishes that the film were played as straight as the advertising. That's because the sight of Rodman earnestly growling such tough guy lines as "It ain't... _over_" as Interpol agent extraordinaire Simon is infinitely more hilarious than the excrutiating "comic relief" provided by his perpetually punchlining sidekick (Dane Cook) and a couple of goofy "cybermonks" (don't ask). With such sheer ineptitude onscreen--get a load of the obvious blue screen compositing and phony-looking visual effects--it's amazing that this hack job didn't go straight to video. But that's just as well--it's probably already hitting shelves as you read this.
Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com | mrbrown@iname.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown CinemaReview Magazine: http://www.CinemaReview.com on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL Instant Messenger: MrBrown23
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