Review of Top Five (2014) by Davey M — 22 Dec 2014

Chris Rock's "Sullivan's Travels" (or, maybe even more accurately, his "Stardust Memories") isn't as consistently funny as his very best standup--though there are plenty of laughs, and one scene had me in stitches for probably a minute straight--but his personality, a striking mix of the warm and the disarming, is always present, and that's even better anyway.

More than anything, Rock proves himself a really terrific filmmaker here, a writer-director-actor who, if he keeps this up, will deserve the inevitable and understandable comparisons to best buddy Louis C.

K. and personal hero Woody Allen. "Top Five" may not be up with the best works of those two guys--it's just a little too lightweight--but it's definitely one of the best times at the movies this year, an energetic, exhilarating, and just really genial romantic comedy-drama about fame and fortune and race and New York City and the Comedy Cellar.