Top Five

Written and Directed by Chris Rock, 'Top Five' is a hilarious romantic-comedy, filled with whip-smart observations on people, fame, identity, alcoholism (and will power). Other than Anders Holm's clichéd closeted boyfriend character (but with unique and hilarious situations), the two lead characters, Andre and Chelsea, are written quite well; they're unique and interesting, and the spark between them is undeniable. Even the supporting characters have fascinating personalities and dialogues. So basically, it's Chris Rock's writing (which is as good as his stand-ups) which makes the movie fun to watch; the movie is semi-autobiographical, and is Rock's best role on screen.

The 'Planet of the Apes'-Martin Luther King Jr. assassination analogy was quite intriguing and hysterical. The entire scene in the hotel room with the two call girls and the other guy was really a well-written situation; quite rib-tickling. Guest appearances by Adam Sandler and Jerry Seinfeld were amusing, too.

The acting is commendable and suit the characters perfectly. Miss Dawson, with her looks and her personality, is incredible in her role. The Cinderella-element in the movie was interesting, and the climax was just perfect; you can't help but have a smile on your face.

There's a scene in this film, Chris Rock's latest as auteur and star, where he performs in a comedy club. It's the first time in years his character, Andre Allen, has performed and from a story point of view it seems rushed and contrived. How he gets to this point isn't exactly organic to what's been going on just before, and only makes sense in the sense that the script dictates it's here that he gets, for lack of a better phrase, his 'groove' back on stage. Nevermind that the character hasn't performed in so long - albeit some of the material, to be fair, ties back in with some troubles he's having with his fiancé, so that's fine - he kills and everyone loves it. Why do they love it really? Well, this is where it gets tricky, and why I recommend Top Five: it's funny. And Chris Rock's funny. He's a great stand up. He doesn't transcend his own problematic script, but he and the cast do much better than it could've been.

The basic premise has more than a touch of Stardust Memories - in case you can't tell, which is possible, Woody Allen is one of Rock's heroes - as Allen doesn't want to do funny movies anymore (he's been "Hammy the Bear" for three films, making this kind of a double-bill/companion piece for this year's Birdman), and has a new, serious work where he plays a Haitian white-man-killing revolutionary. He's spending this one day going around New York city, promoting the film, visiting his family, doing this and that, and he's tagged along by a journalist (Rosario Dawson, who is terrific here by the way), who wants a personal-profile scoop. He's not having it, at first, but over the course of a day and night and lots of memories of things gone wrong - he was/is an alcoholic, as she is, conveniently enough - he opens up.

Again, not a strong story entirely, though it has its moments. Really, it's actually the moments that Rock wins best at here: when he goes to visit his family (first his father, who seems to be kind of a bum but it's funny/sad seeing Allen have to haggle with him over money) and how they all rag on him, and he rags on them back, you can see the warmth and improvisation going on (how much is scripted is anyone's guess, but the tone is just right and the jokes all work in this piece). His set pieces, mostly in the flashbacks, keep bringing the comedy forward and he has many, many funny lines, but even funnier situations for his actors. Cedric the Entertainer especially steals his scenes, but the same can go for Kevin Hart, JB Smoove (to an extent, though he has really one shtick), and even Brian Regan in an uncredited cameo. And DMX... Jesus.

A lot of the film also hinges on Rock and Dawson, and despite a third act reveal (is it a twist?) that made me roll my eyes, their chemistry really sells much of the film. He has just great dialog for the two of them to play off one another, so that we can still buy *them* even if not always the story or situations that develop.

And, again it must be stressed, the movie is funny. Sometimes it's very funny - I'd be remiss to forget that Seinfeld and Adam Sandler show up at a bachelor party and had me crying laughing - and that helps it make it just an unabashed crowd-pleaser first, cutting satire second, which I think was really Rock's goal here. Whether he was trying to also make a GREAT film, I don't know. At its very best, it does come closer than any Rock film to show the sorts of topics he does in his stand up brought to a dramatic context, like the whole marriage-TV-show sub-plot with Gabrielle Union (who is also fantastic here).

But hey, for a night out - as a date-night movie it's especially adept - it works, and it'll get you thinking about your own Top Five after a while. Or if you'd ever see Rock play a Bear-cop (obviously a play on Martin Lawrence more than himself, though ironically Rock wrote the script while on set for Grown-Ups 2, so it goes).

Chris Rock, who wrote and directed this film, can be very funny. However, this movie wanders all over the place, and when it doesn't work it can be really awful.

Why throw in completely over-the-top, unfunny, and highly explicit sex scenes when they seem to come out of left field, and not really congruent with the rest of the story. I much preferred the chemistry between Rock and the superbly talented and beautiful Rosario Dawson, which, I thought, worked really well. Gabrielle Union, J. B. Smoove, and Leslie Jones also added well to the mix here.

All in all, as mentioned, the movie is way too choppy, with some really cringe inducing scenes, and overall a disappointment.

I knew he could do it,

And what's cool is that he shows some depth I knew he was capable of, but never saw him do. I think CB4 was the last funny Chris Rock move, and that's saying something, cause it was not really that funny.

But finally, Chris Rock writes, directs, and producers his own star vehicle that fully lives up to the comedy spectacular that is Chris Rock.

He gets it right with a satire about being a funny man, turned actor who after finding success, fears going back to comedy because he's fears not being funny, but finds a spark in a Times writer who follows him around all day to get to know the man behind the fame.

Although, a lot of the movie is a cliché you seen plenty of times in the past, it's heighten by the fact that the filmmaker is Rock himself who's not afraid to share the comedy spotlight with his friends who make funny appearances. From the always funny Kevin Hart who held it down, to Cedric the Entertainer whose funny moment in the trailer was just a small part of his overall funny cameo, plus a few other hilarious cameos from his friends I would not want to spoil.

Overall, it was Rock's best moment on the big screen.

Top Five isn't the best comedy I've seen in recent years, and it is largely forgettable throughout, but it is definitely a breath of fresh air in a movie genre that has, in recent years, become flooded with loud, obnoxious, and expensive blockbusters that try much too hard at being funny and end up only genuinely being funny for enough scenes to fill up the time for its preview. Or even worse, they go on to turn the movie into sequels or trilogies only to repeat the same basic plot with a few new characters for the sole purpose of making money, instead of making a quality film.

Top Five is a relatively mature and intelligent comedy throughout, that ends leaving the viewer satisfied, and for some wanting more but still content with it being the conclusion to this particular story and set of characters. I don't normally review movies on IMDb, but due to the irony of some of the cruel and unnecessarily critical reviews of this movie given by a decent amount of users that I read, after watching a movie that spends time shining light on the effects words have on people, no matter how famous, rich, or happy they are/appear to be.

This movie is by no means Chris Rock's masterpiece, but it is an intelligently crafted, and entertaining film that doesn't deserve to be given any less than a 5 rating. The 7 rating I gave it is largely due to the fact that I enjoy Chris Rock's comedy and he showed me in this film that he hasn't lost a bit of talent since his first big break. It's not a movie I would go see in theaters, but if it pops up for streaming on Netflix, its worth a watch for sure.