Quanto mais Grana Melhor

Damon Wayans of 'In Living Color' fame wrote and stars in this reasonably amusing 90s action-comedy, casting himself as amiable lead Johnny Stewart. Johnny is a streetwise ne'er-do-well who's content to run scams with his younger brother Seymour (played by Wayans' real-life younger sibling Marlon (the "Scary Movie" series). Then he meets a girl: Amber (Stacey Dash, "Clueless") a drop-dead gorgeous employee at a credit card company. And he attempts to go straight in his relentless (and I do mean relentless) ambition to win her over, getting a job in the company's mailroom. But Johnny gives in to temptation and starts purloining cards and going on spending sprees, earning the attention of the corrupt security chief Keith Heading (John Diehl, "Stripes"). Now under Keiths' thumb, it's clear that Johnny is in over his head.

Wayans' script is really not that good, stumbling when it comes to its crime and thriller aspects (although director Peter Macdonald ("Rambo III") delivers decent action sequences). But its comedy content is often very funny, and very un-p.c. At times. The movie works best as a vehicle for its talented stars. Wayans shows some real charm, Dash is appealing, Harry J. Lennix ('The Blacklist') is a hoot as her stuck-up boyfriend, Marlon W. Has a lot of comic energy, and Diehl is an extremely fun, very overconfident bad guy. Joe Santos ('The Rockford Files') is solid as an investigating detective who's been trying to look out for the irresponsible Johnny for years. A couple of familiar faces have small roles: Mark Beltzman ("Billy Madison"), Larry Brandenburg ("The Shawshank Redemption"), Matt Doherty (the "Mighty Ducks" movies), Richard Hamilton ("Men in Black"), Salli Richardson-Whitfield ("Black Dynamite"), and Irma P. Hall ("A Family Thing"). Keep your eyes peeled for Bernie Mac ("Bad Santa") as a club doorman.

One undeniable, hilarious highlight: Gordon McClure as "The Reverend Pimp Daddy", an utter shambles of a defense attorney. And an actress named Almayvonne is priceless as a gal who ends up with designs on both Johnny and Seymour.

Basically, it's the cast that makes this one worth seeing.

Seven out of 10.

(Flash Review)

Wayans's In Living Color hobo character is stretched extremely thin. An upper class gal meets a low stakes street hustler doing his thing and comically and obsessively follows her to her place of work, applies for a job and ends up working at the same company and warmly tries to win her over and out of her stuffy and rude boyfriend's clutches. Then the movie shifts gears and is thrust into the Wayans brothers helping capture some criminals and it turns into a cops and robbers cheesy action movie. It had some amusing moments but overall was confused on what it wanted to be.

This movie is one of my all time favourites! If you enjoyed the humour from In Living Color, then you will really appreciate this movie. The movie is so enjoyable to watch because it has a bit of everything in it-action, comedy, romance and of course with the Wayans brothers you are sure to have good time! I liked seeing Damon's softer side towards Stacy Dash, and Marlon's jealousy towards his brother's relationship with this girl. Also, the nightclub scene is a riot! Overall,it is a great movie to watch, especially if you are a fan of the Wayans family, plus it has a wicked soundtrack as well!

Although thin on plot, great performances by the leads do manage to save what would otherwise be another mediocre comedy. Damon Wayans shows considerable charisma as the lead, and has terrific chemistry with beautiful co-star Stacey Dash. To be sure, much of the humour here is silly, but when the pace is slower (and the dialogue is realistic), the film really does work .

My ranking is a little high but this film started out good! Then they had to throw in the crime/action BS and it threw off what could have been a classic from the 90s era. I a lot of ways it is ahead of its time.