Thoughts on the movie, 'Top Five'

We went to see 'Top Five' on Monday.  It's written and directed by Chris Rock and stars Rock and Rosario Dawson.  It earns its 'R' (for raunchy) rating with a delightful mix of stand-up black comedians throwing out jokes and the 'n' word in nearly every scene -- hell, in nearly every sentence.

'Top Five' movie poster.

Chris Rock plays Andre Allen, a stand-up comic who has become famous playing 'Hammy' -- a cop who wears a bear suit -- in a three-picture franchise.  Hammy's tagline is 'It's Hammy time'.  Bored with the easy success of the Hammy franchise, Andre has just completed a movie, 'Uprize', in which he plays the leader of the slave rebellion in Haiti during which over 50,000 were slaughtered.  The reviews of 'Uprize' have been brutal, especially the one from the New York Times.

Andre is being interviewed by Chelsea, a reporter from the New York Times (played by Rosario Dawson), who tags along with him as he goes through the day leading up to his bachelor party at the start of his three-day, televised wedding to a needy, greedy TV reality star (played by Gabrielle Union).  There are digressions to meet old girl friends, old stand-up buddies, old school buddies, the reporter's family.

The movie is a little disjointed and uneven, but the performances by Chris Rock and especially the radiant Rosario Dawson are wonderful.  The supporting cast contributes comedic riffs and put-downs and also a series of 'top-five' (usually six) favorite rappers -- at least I think they're rappers.

'Top Five' banner