Review of Top Five (2014) by Dave Y — 04 Feb 2015

"Top Five" - Just as funny as it is insightful.

"Top Five" is a comedy that Chris Rock stars in, directed, and wrote. Everyone knows Chris Rock, the hilarious stand-up comedian who has acted in films, but has just been average, up until now. He's had his own shows, he's been funny in the past, but now we get a chance to really know what he's capable of as far as writing a film goes. "Top Five" is an excellent movie.

It's the story of an actor and comedian (kind of like Chris Rock himself, but this is obviously done intentionally), Andre Allen, who is tired of being the "funny guy", and wants to be taken seriously. After a series of comedy films he starred in called "Hammy", he directs and stars in a new film that he's trying to promote, which is what "Top Five" is about. It all takes place in one day, aside from a few flashbacks.

We learn slowly about Andre's personal life as well as meet his pretty wacky but funny family, and see a strange relationship grow between him and the woman who is interviewing him throughout the day. It's a very interesting and detailed story, and along with being consistently funny without anything being forced, it's insightful.

The comedy in the film is always great. I never felt like there were any scenes that were trying too hard to be funny, but there weren't really long stretches of the film that lacked comedy either. On top of this, it's not always a story to laugh at, and Rock makes this apparent. It's a good story, and worth much more than a lot of modern comedies.

"Top Five" is the year's best comedy. It's insightful and funny. It's an outstanding Chris Rock film with a great original story and an excellent cast.