Review of Top Five (2014) by Geoff Z — 31 May 2015

There is perhaps not a more high profile and hilarious main stream comedian out today than Chris Rock. He has simply done it all, covering a wide variety of topics and issues. But over the course of his illustrious career, it didn't feel complete as if something more needed to be said. If there was anything that needed to be brought up, Rock would no doubt bring it up to the surface to skewer. With Top Five, Rock brings up basically anything and everything he ever needed to bring up about his career in a scathing satire of the media culture we inhabit and most importantly the machinations of comedy.

Andre Allen (Chris Rock) is a comedic superstar who has made a jump from humble standup beginnings to big budget blockbuster movies. He seems like he would be happy and fulfilled with the upcoming wedding to his beautiful reality TV star wife Erica Long (Gabrielle Union) and his new film coming out, the dramatic biography of a Haitian revolutionary. But he seems empty with his celebrity standing and unwilling to get back to his comedic routes. But the prospect of an interview with an intelligent journalist, Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) interests him that he may show a more natural side to himself that no one sees which may bring out the comedic burden he has been stifling for so long.

Many things stand out here but it is clearly Rock who steers it exactly where it needs to be. While a great comedian, he has never risen to critical and box office glory, like many comedians today. Who also happen to star in this very film. He has been in some high profile productions but they never seemed like anything special or of note, but with Top Five it's completely different. Taking center stage as the lead actor, he shows how great of an actor he really is when he isn't in garbage like Grown Ups. It is by far the best performance of his career that shows great growth and humanity with an honest view that is refreshing. He is as funny as he has ever been, never losing a step who felt more relaxed and in tune with himself than he has ever been. Consistently funny, there wasn't a moment or issue that felt too taboo or out of left field for him. He approached the material with a curt honesty that some filmmakers try to avoid but Rock isn't one to let something lie on the shelf. It feels like he is performing standup on screen which he is and it makes it a much more fun movie because of it.

Dawson was a great companion and love interest to Rock. Their dalliance didn't feel contrived or forced and seeing the progression of their relationship over the course of the movie was fun to see. Dawson was on the same level as Rock, going with him every step of the way not once feeling out of place. She had a great chemistry with him and her character was a good mirror image to Rocks more jaded character. Dawson was the only person to tell him straight up what she thinks about his life and career and challenge him on an intellectual level. Effortlessly charming, cute and headstrong, she was a great catalyst to the film. The supporting cast was equally as great, full of legendary cameos, up and coming comedians and other assorted stars.

J.B. Smoove as Silk the assistant/body guard had some great lines and never not funny as the somewhat sidekick to Rock. Perhaps the best supporting role was Gabrielle Union as Erica Long, the all too real portrayal of a reality TV star diva. She was mean, ignorant, vain and just plain fun to see, mainly to watch a portrayal that basically makes fun of every reality star. It's something that was a long time coming and surprising that it hasn't been done more often. She had a surprisingly emotional moment of clarity that showed how alone and desperate those people are. Kevin Hart as Charles had a great small part as his agent, hilariously rampant with the use of slurs. Cedric The Entertainer as Jazzy Dee, a flamboyant, self-proclaimed king of Houston had a disgusting as well as hilarious contribution to the proceedings that will make you squirm and laugh riotously.

It's great to see Tracy Morgan back on the screen and hope that it's not the last time that we see him for a while. The cameos were brilliantly handled and surprising with possibly the best being a legendary comedian in a strip club having too much fun that feels so out of place but at the same time perfect in every way. Another one was a rapper breaking into song that once again is out of place but also perfect.

With Rock's only third directed film, he has grown a lot as a filmmaker as well as an artist to perfectly convey the hardships, difficulties and pressures of a major movie star. He had middling success with his other efforts like I Think I Love My Wife and Head Of State but was nowhere near as serious or introspective as this. They both seemed to borrow many clichés instead of saying anything meaningful or original, not playing to Rock's strengths as an honest, outright performer and storyteller. He knows how to pace a story with an equal amount of laughs, dramatics and a movie that flows from sequence to sequence. None of the individual parts felt unneeded or unwarranted and made for one of the more cohesive comedies all year. The way he covered a wide array of topics and issues is a great example of how to say so many things over the course of the film without the tone getting bogged down by them. Film had a freewheeling aura to it that more than likely had some parts that were improvised. Being a comedian himself, he had to have encouraged it on set and give the movie a more unpredictable feeling. It had a great straight forward narrative that didn't get dragged by any useless subplots and knew what it was trying to say.

He also wrote the screenplay in what is a funny script that seeks to unlock and reveal the façade that celebrities struggle to stay behind despite all the issues that they are dealing with. It's one of the better Hollywood satires to come out in a long time and never struggles to find something to ridicule. In a movie full of great observations and jokes, one of the better ones was the rib on Tyler Perry that was more than warranted and something that more directors and actors should satire more. The dissection of celebrity culture, race, addiction and politics has been done before but being placed in the year 2014, it feels like something new. It handled the issues of race with sincerity that many don't want to talk about but it's something that needs to be brought up. It didn't feel heavy handed or downplay its seriousness while also making room to make a joke about it. It's still clearly a problem and shows that no matter what race one person is, someone will not be able to look beyond it.

I love how he handled the art of comedy and how easy it is to fall into the traps that hinder ones creativity and originality. It felt like a love letter to the art that he loves so much while hitting back at his naysayers and detractors who say he isn't funny anymore. Some of the best parts were trying to navigate the media obsessed world and dodge requests to be funny or questions of his publicized wedding instead of his new film. Tired of making stupid buddy cop films dressed up as a wise cracking bear, titled Hammy The Bear, he hopes to branch out into dramatic territory. His passion project about a Haitian slave revolutionary in an attempt to be taken seriously that is met with disastrous results speaks to the culture that everyone would immediately eat up any biopic about slaves, expecting Oscars and massive praise. Even though 12 Years A Slave was a great movie as well as the Oscar winner for best picture last year but it still doesn't negate the fact that there is Oscar bait of all kinds. It reminded me of Bowfinger where Eddie Murphy's character Buddy Love is looking for an Oscar picture and asks his agent to find him a script with a slave as the lead because those are the roles that black actors get nominated for.

Every year there is something different that the media uses to scrutinize, belittle and magnify its celebrity organisms. With the advent of internet journalists like TMZ, reality TV on Bravo and Oscar baiting biopics it came at the perfect time to deliver a much needed punch in the face to the medium we love to hate and can't get enough of on a daily basis. For whatever reason we can't get enough of celebrities and the rise as well as the fall. People get pleasure from watching them fail miserably, putting more money in the pockets of media magnates. Seeing Rock play it out on film shows that Andre may have problems but nowhere near as much as the people getting paid to obsess over it or the people who talk endlessly about it.

It paints Andre Allen as a flawed character and someone who wants to be taken seriously, but fails miserably instead. He has problems that no one really knows about and hopes to find a release for his creativity despite his wandering comedic abilities. In many ways, it's similar to Funny People with Adam Sandler starring as a fictionalized version of himself. But it was toned down considerably in not only length but the themes of mortality. While they both covered the same topics, Top Five felt more contained as Rock was in control from beginning to end and didn't go off into subplots and an enhanced running time that may have felt like a chore to watch for some. I liked Funny People even if it was long winded sometimes, and was one of Sandler's better performances.

With such a huge and impressive pool of talent, Rock perfectly divvied up the running time and script so that everyone was included and had a brief moment to get their part in. its rather amazing how he managed to fit everyone and everything in and not have it feel like it's going through the motions. He has done a considerably better job in every way than Seth McFarlane and his painfully unfunny A Million Ways To Die In The West when he pulled triple duty, starring, directing and writing. Instead of placing all the lines on the star, Rock gave everyone ample room to make laughs. But it also helps that Rock is a better actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker than McFarlane. The upside is that A Million Ways To Die In The West may have had the better cameos, with the end credits cameo slightly worth the eight bucks.

What I found really interesting is that Rock eviscerates so many celebrity conventions including the obsession with reality TV stars. Erica Long is about to wed Andre in a highly publicized fake wedding that is only meant to further her career. She is vapid, talentless, vain and every bit of greedy and self-serving as one could imagine. She only hopes to fuel her need to stay in the spotlight no matter what and doesn't care what she has to do to get it. Which is incredibly ironic to know that Kanye West was a co-producer on the film who is in fact married to a talentless, vapid, vain, greedy, self-serving reality TV star who has had a fake wedding before and does whatever it takes to stay in the spotlight.

You'd think that with all the movies covering the distorted world of celebrities and the culture we digest, there would be some sort of change afoot. But the machine still keeps on churning out crap no matter what. I would like to see someone take some of what Top Five has said to heart and not buy into the tricks that the media plays. Something as smart, intelligent, introspective and funny shouldn't be put by the wayside as nothing more than a mere movie that has no merit. Chris Rock is one of those guys who says things that no one wants to admit, no matter how true it is. Being in the entertainment business for so long, he knows the peaks and valleys so anything he says should be treated as someone who knows what he is talking about. But if there was anyone to speak up about the issues of media obsession, fame, celebrity, race, addiction and comedy, I'm glad that Rock has taken the mantle to portray an honest, unabashed look at things. There aren't many who can make an observation like him in such a hilarious way. Five Hammy The Bears out of five.