Review of Top Five (2014) by Brandon E — 15 Dec 2014

Chris Rock plays Andre Allen, a superstar comedian who's fame kinda mirrors Eddie Murphy. Andre is a big time comedian who is trying to transition into dramatic films. The character feels that he's lost his comedic touch and due to his past with alcoholism (not a reflection of Eddie Murphy's career) keeps Andre away from the mic.

This film takes place within a day. The direction is somewhat reminiscent of Woody Allen. It's a very New-York centric film. Even though Rock is playing a fictional version of himself, he's still playing the Chris Rock that we all know. The good parts of the film consists of the secondary characters and cameos. To start Cedric the Entertainer is hilarious as the Houston club promoter. If anyone has met a promoter, Cedric played the part well. The best scene in the film is when Allen visits his family in the projects. It was obviously improvised but it flowed organically to the point that it felt like watching an actual family. Tracy Morgan's performance was hilarious during that scene, it really makes you hope that he gets better. The cameos are hilarious, most definitely Seinfeld's scenes.

Overall it was an okay film, it didn't really have no effect on me. I wouldn't run to the theaters to check this out, it's more of a casual movie to check out.