For as long as I can remember, Chris Rock has always been, to me, one of the smartest, if not THE smartest comedian of my generation. There have been others before him. George Carlin may be the smartest of all time, but by the time I was able to understand and appreciate his humor, he was already very old. There was also Richard Pryor-- still before my time. And, I'll even give credit to 80s Eddie Murphy. But, one of the first stand up comedy shows I ever watched was Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker. I was familiar with Rock only in regards to In Living Color and Saturday Night Live. On those shows he was... humorous. With his stand up, he's genius.
Next, came a series of WTF movies from the comedian I respected more than anyone. Down To Earth came out where he actually played a comedian! And his best joke on stage in the movie was "You've got so much armpit hair you look like you got buckwheat in a headlock." Yeah. That's it. He used his D material in the movie that was the antithesis of funny. Then Head of State which I still don't really understand how Chris Rock wrote that movie and the stand up material for Never Scared. With his stand-up Chris Rock was finally becoming the Carlin of my generation, but with his film choices, the next Eddie Murphy. So, you can imagine how refreshing it is to see Top Five, a film that finally displays Rock's talent as a writer/director and comedian as well as showcases that genius we all knew he was capable of.
Top Five takes place in a single day. Rock plays Andre, a celebrity whose celeb life has started to go somewhat downhill. He used to be the biggest comedian of his time and made the highest grossing comedy movies until he got sober and quit comedy. He's now trying to promote his newest film "Uprize" about the Haitian uprising, but much to his chagrin, it's getting terrible reviews. He's followed around all day by a reporter (Rosario Dawson) trying to get the real story from Andre about why he's quit being funny. They stop at several places for his promotion of the film-- radio stations, press junkets, Andre's old friend's homes, etc. What starts to develop is a relationship between comedian and reporter that transcends sex and love, but of mutual understanding and sympathy.
It's a great love story and even more it's a great commentary of the film industry. No one gives Andre's film a chance because it's not funny and he's supposed to be funny. When he stops by a random theater to watch his fans waiting for the film, there's four people in the theater. The rest of the crowd is lined out the door waiting for the new Madea movie where she spends the night in a haunted house. It's also a commentary about how we need our comedians to be "on" at all times. Sometimes, they're human. They don't feel funny. He satirizes reality television stars. It's also a commentary on the roles black actors tend to get in Hollywood. Nearly every supporting character in the film seems to be played by a stock black comedian. They're either the crony, the hood friend, or the Haitian slaves uprising.
Rock delicately weaves all of these storylines together through his day and is able to make a big statement about Hollywood as well as provide a very funny and poignant movie. Watching what I'm sure is a partly autobiographical film, it's comforting to see Andre's vulnerabilities and be able to watch a celebrity work through problems that us everyday folk go through constantly as well. But, down to it's very core, it's still mostly a love story. It's a love story from two broken people trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and maybe fit well with each other. The chemistry between Rock and Dawson is great. It's such a pleasure to watch. And, if nothing else, go for the cameos. There are a few in the film that will leave you hurting.
B
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