Review of National Security (2003) by Ross B — 19 Nov 2009

Ah, Martin Lawrence...you know what, I'm not a hater. I think Black Knight is pretty funny. But this...this is bad. Very bad.

In National Security, Lawrence plays Earl Montgomery, a sassy black cop-on-the-edge...actually he ends up failing out of the academy and becoming a rent-a-cop. Steve Zahn plays Hank Rafferty, a straight-laced cop who ends up being sent to jail because of Montgomery's KA-RAZY antics! Seriously, the movie is thin. Rafferty wants to avenge his original partner's death, Montgomery awkwardly forces racism into every scenario and expects it to be funny, and the supporting cast all look far too embarrassed to be in the movie. I mean, if it wasn't for the fact that every actor seems to be shiftily avoiding everyone's eyes, you could watch this movie ironically and have a pretty good time with it. Unfortunately, it's painfully obvious that everyone but Lawrence thought this movie was a terrible, terrible idea.

But, hey, it made a metric ton of cash, so I guess Lawrence got the last laugh in the end.

Final note: I watched this movie after I'd already watched Sin City, with Lt. Jack Rafferty...just a weird coincidence I suppose, but for me, that was the funniest part of the movie, seeing a bizarre alterna-Rafferty.

For being terminally unfunny, and for contributing to the ever-increasing failure that is Martin Lawrence's career...