Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson in “Top Five”.
Rock plays Andre, whose career in comedy no longer delivers satisfactions. He’s scared because he feels he’s not funny any more. He’s about to wed Erica, blonde, bosomy, not the sharpest pencil in anybody’s box, meretricious to more than merely one fault, hiding her inadequacies behind an assertive façade and hoping that televising the wedding will restore the ratings for her reality-TV program.
“The New York Times” sends ace reporter Chelsea to interview Andre. The pair spend a day discovering each other. Will Andre obey convention and abandon the comfort of Erica’s bosom in favour of Chelsea’s brain? From Chelsea’s first appearance, we sense that gorgeous Rosario Dawson playing her will waltz away with Andre.
Spoiler alert. Rock’s screenplay is too sharp to fall for that cliché.
In its journey toward denouement, the screenplay delivers intelligent satire and social commentary ranging across topics as diverse as racism, poverty, family disputes, sexual shenanigans and journalistic noms de plume.
It’s funny, clever, perceptive and engaging. Good one, Chris Rock.
At Palace Electric and Hoyts Belconnen.
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