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Malibu's
Most Wanted
The simplistic
plot is probably the thing Malibu's Most Wanted best
has going for it.
Brad Gluckman
(Jamie Kennedy) is a rapper wanna-be believing he is as black
as can be, and that his Malibu crew is the hippest there is.
His interests include rapping, BET, baggie pants, talking
gangsta, and of course, stupid rhymes.
Unfortunately,
his father (Ryan O'Neal) is running for Governor of California
and his ratings are down, so Brad needs to be more appealing
to the public and start acting like a respectable son of a
major political player (or playa). In comes the fantastic
duo P.J. (Anthony Anderson), and Sean (Taye Diggs).
The two
are aspiring actors hired by the Buckman camp to literally
scare "the white" out of Brad by taking him to the
real "'hood" and show him that it's a far cry from
his perceptions. However, P.J. and Sean have no idea what
the hood is really like, either, and have to improv their
whole act. Thankfully, this provides a few funny moments.
So this
is what America's youth has come to love, respect, and imitate
in a very alarming fashion. The movie probably intends to
be a moral story, but its lost somewhere in the silliness
of Kennedy's act. He is a rich kid, plain and simple, with
a crib that is basically a multi-million dollar mansion. Not
very ghetto if you ask me, but nonetheless this poser personality
annoys his parents, which may ring true in rich white neighborhoods.
The idea
that he is like this to the degree it is at is bothersome,
because he has NO REASON to be that way. He doesn't live in
a black neighborhood, he has no black friends, his crew is
another white guy, a white girl, and a Persian… Indian…
or Arab kid (didn't quite catch it, and I'm Arab) with the
same abnormal behavior patterns.
But let's
not get picky now about details, and what could have been.
Every month this year we've gotten a racial comedy, and they
all go over the same ground. This one does pack a couple of
good moments, but falls very short of being a good film.
Anderson
and Diggs are the real stars in this film, since their characters
are more interesting in all aspects than Kennedy's. They actually
steal the show, while Kennedy takes the same joke and line,
and runs them into the ground time after time after time.
Believe
you me, I aint hatin'; it's just a fact.
You just don't believe Kennedy in his role, disappointing as
he does wonders in his JKX TV show. He just looks all
wrong, and talks all wrong and acts all wrong. Not even his
love interest with Shondra (Regina Hall) is believable, and
irks with its lameness. The outrageousness may be funny at first,
but to be funny you have to be able to get into it, and allow
the audience to get into it, but that wears out as time progresses.
For the
first hour, "cutesy" racial jokes play out, and
the thought that you just saw a lot of this in Bringing
Down The House starts pounding into your head. To
its credit, it does pick up after an hour or so, but that
lasts only about ten minutes before running right back into
a yawn fest.
If you
have time to waste, and it's playing at the cheap show, it'll
be good.
What's
It Worth? $3
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