No single performance in any movie this year has divided audiences like Chris Tucker's ultra-swishy DJ Ruby Rodd in ``The Fifth Element.''
To some, it was the most daring acting stunt since Nicolas Cage's squeaking Romeo in ``Peggy Sue Got Married.'' To others, it was either A) a disgusting gay stereotype that ruined the movie, or B) an aggressively irritating caricature that wore out its welcome after five minutes.
Tucker was not the main attraction of ``The Fifty Element,'' but he's the whole show in ``Money Talks,'' a self-congratulatory showcase he also executive-produced.
Like the worst Eddie Murphy movies, ``Money Talks'' serves up a crude blend of flip comedy and jarring violence. Tucker plays Franklin Hatchett, a car-wash worker who scalps tickets on the side. Busted by TV reporter James Russell (Charlie Sheen, still charisma-free after all these years) for no real reason other than to get the story rolling, Hatchett soon becomes embroiled in a scheme by some none-too-slick French thieves to get hold of a cache of diamonds.
How dumb are these crooks? The rocks are hidden inside the dashboard of a rare Jaguar that's about to go up for auction, and instead of stealing the car, these guys bid on it.
Tucker again uses the Michael Jackson-on-helium voice he employed as Ruby Rodd, and for good reason: It seems to be the only trick in his bag.
Whereas Murphy, even on a bad day, can hit you with a devastating impersonation or some inspired ad-libbing, Tucker's comedy consists entirely of him screeching profanities.
Tucker's limited act is easier to take if it's being played off someone like Bruce Willis in ``Fifth,'' but Sheen's glowering pseudo-intensity gives Tucker nothing to react to. The lamebrained screenplay eventually has Russell sheltering the fugitive Hatchett two days before Russell's wedding, meaning that Russell must drag Hatchett along to the rehearsal dinner at his future in-laws' Beverly Hills estate, and guess what Hatchett does there? He steals things! Fresh idea, huh?
Heather Locklear, in a miniscule role as Russell's fiancee, looks like she was dragged to the set after a sleepless night. The gifted Elise Neal has nothing to do but scold and scurry about as Hatchett's pregnant girlfriend.
At least both women were spared participation in the fatuous finale that finds Hatchett and Russell being chased by bad dudes all over the Los Angeles Coliseum, which someone has thoughtfully left wide open and unguarded at 3 a.m. While helicopters explode, rockets fly into the stands and villains shoot holes through one another, Tucker squeals loud and long. Here's hoping he gets the Ned Beatty part when ``Deliverance'' is finally remade.
James Sanford
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