This film is a sort-of remake of Across the Bridge, and though it has a different sort of humor and a little bit more bloody action sequences, the comedy is pretty funny and its got a good handle on the action genre. This film has got the standard amount of jokes for a light action film and most of them are funny. Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin make a pretty good team together and have a decent amount of chemistry when it comes to comedy.
You won't fall out of your chair when the jokes come flying in this film, but more than a few of them are enough to make anybody crack a smile. I have to say it's nice to see Hollywood giving a couple of black guys the leads in a film. Jones and Griffin weren't given the "funny-black-sidekick-who-gets-killed-in-the-first-act" roles. The white guys had to put up with having the supporting roles in this one.
The plot hums along pretty nicely most of the time and there's even some drama mixed in with the comedy at times. And the people in the supporting roles were pretty good too. Although they weren't great. The film has a pretty big cast and so the lack of amazing performances didn't bother me too much. This film has a few problems, which I'll illustrate in the next paragraph, but it also has some successes and some surprises, which i'll talk a little bit about too.
First off, I can't say that all the dialogue was the best though. The part of this script that seems to lack the most was the dialogue exchanges between the characters during the serious moments. The dialogue was kind of lame in spots where there wasn't a joke being told. I suspect this lack of attention to the speaking parts was nothing more than that action movie mentality. Why focus on the script when you can have some comedy and gun exchanges. A fault for many films, this movie suffers from the same problem as just about every action flick out there.
It's a good thing this film has some good comedic talent. Of course, the best role in the movie wasn't a human at all. It belonged to the cutest fluffiest dog I've ever seen. I hate to sound like a soccer mom pinching her son's cheeks, but that dog has some good lines. There's a part where Griffin's character is headed to Mexico and he's got this dog in the car with him. Griffin mentions that he has to start working on his spanish and the dog seems to bark a trilling sound that resembles the rolling of an R in the spanish alphabet. A very funny canine.
Something that made this film kind of unique was the way the filmmakers tried to include some of the old style thriller element that was common in Hitchcock films and the like. The music was one of the most obvious elements that had been doctored to create some type of eerie feeling. It also had some Latin American influence, which I found to be a good addition since some of the film takes place in Mexico and includes Mexican characters. This film also has a good handle on the act of dropping subtle hints throughout the picture that are only apparent on a second viewing.
I read some information about this film before I saw it and so I was able to keep my eye out for those little elements that make the ending to this film come together completely. And the ending for this film was straight out of a thriller from the forties or fifties too. Just when you think you've got the guy who's really the one to blame, the film throws you a curve ball. And there are a lot of curves. But it's fun.
Maybe too fun. I think the filmmakers have bitten off more than they could chew in creating this film. It tries to be a Hitchcock-ian film one moment and the slapstick buddy comedy the next. It almost reminded me of a cross between Lethal Weapon and The Fugitive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. So really, what you've got with this film is something that tries to be a smart thriller, but really is just a kooky action flick with a couple of well-placed clues.
Review by Kelsey Wyatt.
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