Held Up - Achtung Geiselnahme!

During a vacation road trip across the Midwest, Rae is irritated enough but when she finds out that Michael spent $10,000 more than she wanted to on a car she is annoyed because the money could have gone on the house. Rae abandons him at a garage and head to the nearest airport; Michael plans to follow her but when his car is stolen he finds himself stuck in the garage diner. As if dealing with the locals is not hard enough for Michael, a robbery at the garage just makes things more complicated for him.

Although it is apparent exactly what sort of film this was going to be, I was attracted by the presence of Nia Long and Jamie Foxx. The comedy is basic and I had hoped that the playing of the actors would provide enough energy to make up for what I expected to be pretty weak material. True to form the plot is stupid and the humour is very basic and I didn't really ever laugh. Happily the script avoids the usual reverse-racism that seems to be the norm in any comedy with black leads but it doesn't have a great deal going for it in its place.

The film seems to rely totally on the playing of the actors – which is a problem because nobody really does that well. Imagine my disappointment when Nia Long turned out to have very little screen time to speak of. Looking down the barrel of the 2005 Oscars, it is amusing to look back and see Foxx as he used to be – essentially a clowning comedian who had not been asked to actually act. Here that is all he does and he does manage to make his stuff a bit better thanks to his energy and charisma but he is not a miracle worker and he cannot raise the material apart from once or twice. The support cast features a surprising amount of well known faces but none of them really do much with the basic material; still, it was strange to see Corbin, Cullum, Busey, Hagerty, Jackson, Sanchez and a few other "known them when you see them" people.

Overall a pretty darn poor film all told with very basic material throughout. The cast are reasonably recognisable but only Foxx manages to inject energy and even then he only does it well now and again. Very few laughs and very little entertainment value – Jamie Foxx looks to have moved on from this sort of stuff, so should you.

Jamie Foxx has nothing but trouble when his girlfriend (Nia Long) leaves him after a fight in desolate Arizona and then his car gets stolen. Foxx then has more good luck by being held hostage at a convenient store after a botched robbery by ringleader Eduardo Yanez. Country-hick sheriff Barry Corbin becomes the negotiator in this light-hearted "Dog Day Afternoon"-styled fiasco. Admittedly hilarious to an extent, but begins to drag its feet late with plot resolution and a somewhat dramatic twist. Foxx is on the ball when it comes to his comedic timing and execution, but the flick is really beneath his wide range of talents. Adequate little time killer and truly funny---if you are in the right mood. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

HELD UP (2000) *1/2 Jamie Foxx, Nia Long, Barry Corbin, John Cullum, Jake Busey, Michael Shamus Wiles, Sarah Paulson, Eduardo Yanez, Julie Hagerty. (Dir: Steve Rash) Jamie Foxx is a definite up and coming star in the making.

Witness his eponymous WB tv series, his stint on the ensemble Fox hit, 'In Living Color' and last year's dramatic acting debut in Oliver Stone's bone-crunching look at pro football as a cocksure, divaesque quarterback in 'Any Given Sunday.' That's what makes it all the more difficult to figure out why he squandered his naturally given gift in this lame fish-out-of-water comedy.

Foxx stars as a put-upon guy named Mike who's traveling cross country with his sexy girlfriend Rae (the luscious Long, equally wasted) only to wind up in a podunk backwater Arizona desert town, North Butte. After a quarrel due to Rae learning Mike has spent nearly every dime into the vintage Stuedebaker they're tooling around in leads a seriously angry Rae to leave Mike to his own resources as she bums a ride in a pick-up of good ol' boys to head back to the local airport for the first plane back home to Chicago.

Chagrined Mike winds up facing a firecracker string of bad luck from getting his classic ride carjacked, to being left with fifty bucks and finally being held up in the convenience store he's been dumped at. There is the meat of the action – more or less – as Mike uses his sarcastic tone to great effect in negotiating with the dim novice robber Rodrigo (Yanez) who can't command two thoughts at the same time. Among the hostages include a local gal named Mary (Paulson, an uncanny Kelly Preston look-alike), a leather capped biker (Wiles) so engrossed in his magazine reading he barely notices the crime except to pontificate on every germaine item that pops into conversation a la Cliff Clavin of 'Cheers', and the world-weary store owner Jack (Cullum, late of the cult tv series 'Northern Exposure'), who has an answer for everything as well.

To gum up the works is the local sheriff, Pembry (Corbin, also from 'Exposure'), who has an ax to grind with Mike for ruining his little league baseball game which is still in progress as he tries to command his inept squad of Barney Fifes including his by the book deputy Beaumont (Busey, son of Gary) who provides the official rules of negotiation by the FBI from its cellophaned shrink wrapping.

Foxx does the best with the dog-eared hoary plot such as it is and does his own riff on this ill-advised comedy attempt of 'Dog Day Afternoon' with not much at risk and a pedestrian pace by the director Steve Rash. The one running gag of a kid in the store thinking Mike is Puff Daddy is the atypical type of humor strung out for a laugh.

The only thing that's held up is the audience's patience and the tight leash the film has on its star's true talent.

"Held Up" is one of the those movies that doesn't require a whole lot. It is an enjoyable comedy that played like a comedy of errors.

Jamie Foxx is one comedian that is really funny. I don't think "Held Up" could have been made without him. I enjoyed how Foxx mixed the comedy with scenes of drama. It gave a nice balance to a light-hearted and good natured film. Everyone plays a comedic part in this film from Barry Corbin to Nia Long and Jake Busey. "Held Up" is just good fun.

I have to say that this is not the best film made, but I disagree with those who call "Held Up" the worst movie made. I give this film a 7 out of 10.

To the point:

I rented this DVD last night and was totally prepared for the simplest level of entertainment.... and was still disappointed. We turned it off. I chuckled a couple times, but the movie was going nowhere and Jamie was being wasted on some really, really, really bad dialogue. They all were. Dumb and Dumber looks like fine art compared to this.