Review of Top Five (2014) by Carlos S — 16 Mar 2015

Chris Rock has been in stand-up for as long as I can remember. I don't recall liking his material as a younger chap, but then again, stand-up comedy was not exactly one of my priorities on Saturday mornings.

Forgive me.

I now know the difference between a stand-up performance and an actual comedy, and this man his built his life on that idea. With little fear of offending, yet tender enough to contemplate the contrary.

Rock plays Andre Allen, a once loved favorite for his past slapstick flicks, "Hammy The Bear", or if you're a beer guy, lol. It's a franchise that fans o'plenty refuse to stop asking more of. The man simply just wants to move on from it. "I have so much more to offer" he laments in the last few minutes of screen time along with a hilarious DMX in an adjacent jail cell. This scene alone acts as a treat for making it through the truth and ideals of the film.

Let me just stop here for a second please.

Of course I was thinking about "Funny People" while watching this. I couldn't stop replaying Judd Apatow's justifying that it was his "love letter to stand-up" which portrayed a refreshingly self aware Adam Sandler I've never seen before whom faced the same questions under more terminal circumstances. Chris Rock rather enjoys provoking our thoughts with honesty and integrity.

His sobriety is not a friend he greets with a hug, nor even his fans. We see everyone looking at him so much with an earnest birthright to his comedy, far beyond entitled. Plus a well-acted New York Times reporting by Rosario Dawson whom is even more so. She questions his impending wedding to a disgustingly Kardashian-esque Gabrielle Union whose constantly one upping the tally every ten minutes.

His questions about life and success are well worth asking, as much as yours are worth troubling over. Take note that this is not a funny film, but a comedy with a heartbeat.