Review of Top Five (2014) by Jake C — 11 Jul 2018

In case you didn't already realize how incredibly talented, intelligent, and empathetic Chris Rock's work really is, there is no denying it after seeing him helm the director's chair for the first time.

The film is as funny as you would expect, as sharply insightful as you would hope, and more romantic than you would guess. Raising issues of celebrity, dependency, artistry, race, class, the central question here is fidelity-not just to a partner, but to one's own desire and sense of imagined self.

And on that front, Rock's late dive into the triple threat of writing/directing/starring feels less like a shift in his ambitions than it does the organic fruition of a brilliant career.