Top Five (Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Mar 20th, 2015
Starring: Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, J.B. Smoove, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Sherri Shepherd, Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Cedric The Entertainer, Jay Pharoah, Leslie Jones
Written By: Chris Rock
Directed By: Chris Rock
Studio: Paramount
Buy On Amazon.com
For not knowing anything about this movie, I ended up liking it a lot. If you like Chris Rock and his stand-up, you’ll appreciate this one. Trust me, Chris Rock finally makes or stars in a good movie.
Top Five is about Andre Allen (Chris Rock), a former stand-up comedian who’s now a movie star. His rise to fame was a movie about a cop in a bear suit movie called Hammy The Bear and now he’s trying more serious roles. People shout Hammy at him on the streets and want him to return to stand-up. Andre meets up with reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) to discuss his life and career. Throughout the movie, Andre has to come to terms with his past (alcoholism), and his future marriage to reality TV star Erica Long (Gabrielle Union). Their wedding is suppose to be broadcast but in the end he starts have doubts about that and his fame.
Top Five felt like Rock’s stand-up act in a way and that’s probably how he approached it. There were some long setups for some jokes but most of them paid off in the end. The movie features many cameos (Seinfeld, Sandler, Kevin Hart, DMX, SNL cast members to name a few), mainly Chris Rock’s friends who were asked to appear for no pay. The way the movie is setup can be sometimes confusing. You’re not exactly sure what’s going on at times, until later on when things start making sense. It’s a bit clunky but something that will probably make more sense in the last part of the movie. Re-watching this might be better the second round, where you might have missed some jokes or whatever.
The story itself I liked and it’s seemed like it was about a few comedians/actors like Chris Rock himself, but also Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy. Definitely some Eddie Murphy vibes from the character for sure. I’m not a fan of every Chris Rock movie, in fact, I’m having a hard time trying to name one where he’s stars in that I liked. I ended up liking this one a lot, despite some of the clunkiness of it. When something was funny, I laughed so that’s always helpful. I think my favorite scenes were when Chris Rock’s character was doing his promo tour for his new movie and being on different radio shows like Opie and Anthony. The other scene was a sex scene, that ended up being funny in the end when someone decided to join the party.
The Blu-Ray features were pretty good. There’s commentary, behind the scenes footage, outtakes from Andre Allen’s standup, and some deleted scenes. The best part of the features was It’s Never Just a movie which explores Rock’s career, the themes in the movie and other things like that. I was surprised that the extra for this were good.
Top Five may not be for everybody but I enjoyed it. It has it’s funny moments, and it could act as a romantic comedy as well. Definitely for fans of Chris Rock.
Features
Commentary by Chris Rock and JB Smoove
It’s Never Just a Movie: Chris Rock and Top Five
The Making of Top Five
Andre Allen Stand Up Outtakes
Deleted Scenes
Ultraviolet
Video
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Audio
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bottom Line: One of Chris Rock’s better films
Running Time: 101 mins
Rating: R
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
