King's Ransom

O.k. I'm a black guy. And I usually grade on a curve for black comedies, but this was the worst movie I've ever seen.

Any screenplay writer knows that you are suppose to set-up what's going on in the movie in the first 10 minutes. How about 20 minutes later I still didn't have a clue, then all of my friends and I walked out of a $10.00 movie!

I'm not even going to waste my time writing a plot review for this movie, because I didn't see the whole thing. Two words: IT SUCKS!

Save your money don't rent the DVD, wait for it to come on HBO or better yet wait 3 years until it comes on TBS and they will show it every day if they can edit the harsh language.

King's Ransom

Starring: Anthony Anderson, Charlie Murphy, Regina Hall, Nicole Ari Parker, Kellita Smith, Jay Mohr, Brooke D'Orsay, Donald Faison and Loretta Devine

Rated PG-13 for Crude and Sexual Humor and Language

Genre: Comedy/Crime

Star Rating: ***1/2 out of 5

This is the first movie with Anthony Anderson playing the leading role and before that he was pretty much the sidekick role in these buddy comedy movies. Anthony Anderson plays Malcolm King, who is a big time rich businessman who has an ex-wife, Renee King (Kellita Smith) who is wanting half of the money Malcolm is making in his company in the divorce settlement. Malcolm decides to plan his own kidnapping so that way he doesn't have to pay his ex-wife half the money with the help of his dim-witted mistress, Peaches Clarke (Regina Hall) and her ex-con brother, Herb Clarke (Charlie Murphy). But Malcolm's employees have had enough of Malcolm's attitude and are wanting to hold him for ransom and another guy named Corey (Jay Mohr) is kidnapping Malcolm to try to get the money for his sister. This movie was outrageously hilarious! Plus I think this is also the first time I have seen Charlie Murphy do a movie because he is mainly known for being one of the co-stars off "Chappelle's Show"!

BOTTOM LINE: OUTRAGEOUS!

Okay, I am obviously alone here.

I thought this movie was funny but too short.

Peaches rocked.

The gold-digger wife was (is) hot.

Loretta Devine as the secretary...flawless.

The acting-VP with the college degrees...or...no degrees, going berserk...could it be any funnier?

The sandwich getting body slammed on the roadside? funny shtick.

And the fifty-cent music...perfect!

I thought this movie had a lot to offer. It was just too short. The credits were rolling but I was wanting more.

Remember, it is not true to life. It seems that "black" films are required to either represent true life or contain a "do-good message" for the youth.

I'd prefer to go to a movie to laugh and be entertained.

I thought this film was entertaining.

King's Ransom was funny but too short.

I've seen it twice just to make sure.

his character, Malcom King, is a slimeball in this. The one mistake with the movie is none of the characters are likable. His wife is a golddigger. His employees can't stand him and Corey has prior arrests, so you can't root for him either. King is getting a divorce, so in order to try to keep his wife from getting half, he plots his own kidnapping. The same night, some disgruntled employees and a loser, Corey, are planning to kidnap him too. King has gotten his buffoon of a girlfriend to get her brother to do the kidnapping. But he kidnaps the wrong guy and King is kidnapped for real. King still goes around disrespecting people but teaches Corey how to be a little more forceful. I thought those parts were funny. If you want to see some mustard smeared in a guy's face, then that scene is for you. There were other scenes that were funny, like Peaches going in the bedroom blindfolded, her brother watching exercise shows, Corey at the burger shack, etc...

FINAL VERDICT: I liked this. I thought it was OK for a comedy. Sure it was silly, but it was supposed to be. And Anthony Anderson is good like he usually is in comedies.

King's Ransom starts very weak, continues at a snail's pace, then finally gets interesting with fifteen minutes left. At that point, it's whatever. More than half the movie is weak so the likelihood of a rewatch is extremely slim. While the overwhelming amount of negative reviews online is a little too much for this film, it still comes off as just a poorly made, unfunny comedy.

Anthony Anderson is always one of the highlights in every film he is in. I liked his goofy Louis persona in Kangaroo Jack, his idiotic antics in Malibu's Most Wanted stood out from the entire film, and most recently in Scream 4 he was a great addition to the cast. He's always stuck in movies that fail to achieve anything they are trying to achieve. He is a funny and energetic actor with instant recognition even with his respective weight-loss. I will say even in this poor comedy, he still manages to impress.

The film centers around an arrogant, self indulgent rich man named Malcolm King (Anderson). Upset his wife Renee (Smith) is divorcing him and is expected to get half his earnings, he fakes his own kidnapping, but a crazy fast-food employee (Mohr) and a mad employee (Parker) also want to kidnap him to teach him a lesson.

The first forty five minutes of the film are nothing but overacted events that showcase nothing but the film's hyper activity and craziness. I liked both Anderson and Mohr's characters, but their antics aren't as funny that I would even come close to recommend this at all.

The writer of King's Ransom was one of the many writers for one of my favorite television shows, Kenan & Kel. It seems the jokes could've worked in a twenty minute episode of a Nickelodeon, they absolutely do not work for a ninety seven minute movie that is nothing but one poorly done slap sticky joke after another barely saved by two likable actors.

Starring: Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, Donald Faison, Kellita Smith, Nicole Ari Parker, Charlie Murphy, Regina Hall, and Roger Cross. Directed by: Jeffrey W. Byrd.