Review of Top Five (2014) by Danny P — 16 Dec 2014

Chris Rock takes writing, directing, and starring duties in the new film Top Five. It does start off as a typical comedy but eventually seems to veer into a more thought-provoking film. And you can tell that some of it must be based on Rock's own real-life experiences. He plays Andre Allen, a comedian who hit it big in silly movies playing "Hammy the Bear", a cop in a bear suit. It spawned a franchise much like the similar Big Momma movies that Rock's friend Martin Lawrence starred in. But Andre Allen decided to move on to serious roles - his reasons why are revealed later in the film. His move to a dramatic acting role is not received well by audiences (or critics). Chris Rock may have never had a big franchise like the Big Momma films but he is a comedian who has been successful in his own right and you wonder if he's wishing he could be taken serious in dramatic roles since his comedy films have never fared all too well.

Through the entire film, his character is being interviewed by a reporter played by Rosario Dawson. This is where he reveals his incentive for crossing over and giving up on comedy. He also wonders if he's actually funny anymore. Through the course of one day, he comes across other celebrities he knows and interacts with them. This movie is filled with cameos by actual celebrities (mostly comedians) who Rock got to appear in the film. And most of the cameos are pretty good.

As I said, the film starts out pretty silly with the Hammy the Bear flashbacks and also scenes of Cedric the Entertainer playing a pimp-like handler who gets him sex, drugs, and alcohol. But after that, there becomes more of a connection between Rock's character and the reporter as they go deeper into things and simply philosophize on our society's culture. Throughout the film, Andre Allen debates with people over who the top five rappers of all time are (hence the title of the film). It's a discussion that many people do have every day and seems to be something that tells him more about a person overall. It's sort of a bonding discussion for those who are big fans of the music. There probably could've been some more laughs but overall it's a decent movie and certainly one of Chris Rock's better films compared to his past ones. He's best at doing stand up, but he shows here that he's not bad at directing a movie either.