The subject of this new* Chris Rock comedy is hardly groundbreaking stuff. It's one of those films made by people who've been hanging around Hollywood for too long, wanting to get off their chest all the stuff they've learnt about celebrity culture, with all its creepy casting agents and people who eat egg-white omelettes and the like. You might think about films that appeal almost exclusively to industry experts, films like Stardust Memories, Somewhere, Maps to the Stars and, obviously, Birdman. But the film successfully dodges the pitfalls of its genre - namely sounding whiny and self-indulgent - with a sharp script and some good performances, and it actually manages to stay funny in spite of some overtly obvious ruminations on fame, relationships, and artistic integrity.
Andre Allen is our man, our struggling B-list anti-hero, but he might as well be called Chris Rock - more comedian than actor, Rock slides into an overtly autobiographical role without so much as a hiccup. Allen used to be funny, but he was also an alcoholic, so after he got clean he decided he didn't want to be a clown in a bear suit named "Hammy" any more (though I can think of worse things than starring alongside Luis Guzmén in a bear-cop movie trilogy). Andre tries to transform himself into an artist, an auteur, who gets to make a serious - though rubbish - film about the Haitian Revolution. As he explains in an interview, it's about "a slave rebellion... it's when slaves rebel." And no, there won't be a Hammy 4.
Scenes revolving around tiring press junkets and awkward celebrity encounters are not particularly original, and for a film trying to be as contemporary as possible I was surprised to see some of the production elements beginning to feel dated even as I watched them (at one point there's a startlingly tired joke about Angry Birds). I was also surprised to see that it was produced by Jay-Z and Kanye West, two hyper-celebrities whose very lifestyles were being lampooned on the screen. The film was trying to have its diamond-encrusted cake balanced on a stripper's arse and eat it too, though I suppose it lacks the acidic wit of many of its forebearers that might have deterred such investors.
However, in spite of all this Top Five comes to life in its surprisingly natural scenes of interaction between its characters. The film kicks off with a rambling argument between Andre and Chelsea (Rosario Dawson) a magazine journalist who's pressing for real answers. He's pretentious, she's a little obtuse, but there's a spark between them. They carry on their conversation as he goes about his day, preparing for his imminent wedding to a media starlet (whose name definitely isn't Kardashian, by the way). The film sometimes launches into flashback mode, replaying amusing anecdotes of a terrible hotel room hook-up and an embarrassing use of hot sauce and a tampon, but always returns to its most comfortable element - Rock and Dawson spend most of their time talking in cars, bars and shops, yet not once does the pace drag.
Dawson is clearly the shining star here, somehow stealing the spotlight from Chris Rock in the Chris Rock Movie, though the screenplay, as most good rom-coms do, presents them on even ground. Rock, in his third and best feature, has crafted some keenly observed characters, and it's a joy to watch them all play against each other. Perhaps the best scene comes in a thoroughly convincing scene of a reunion with old friends - there's some great input from Sherri Shepherd and The Wire's Hassan Johnson, and a surprisingly poignant appearance by Tracy Morgan - where they discuss their "Top Five" favourite rappers. (For the curious, mine are: Kanye, Dre, André 3000, Wiz Khalifa, Eminem).
Some of the later plot contrivances obfuscate the message a bit, but Rock keeps the energy up with a conveyor belt of famous friends - Jerry Seinfeld is, by a country mile, the funniest thing about the film, though I'm ashamed to admit I laughed at Adam Sandler - and the payoff by the end is nice and satisfying. Hey, it's no Birdman, but it works.
★★★
*I realise it came out a while ago, but I've only just got around to seeing it, mostly because I'm poor and live on an island.
