Top Five
Starring Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson
Directed by Chris Rock
With David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman having already taken aim at Hollywood’s rampant egotism and inherent absurdity, Chris Rock now takes his turn biting the hand that feeds. Or, in his case, the hand that’s thrown him the odd scrap but otherwise has proven incapable of offering roles that befit an incendiary performer who delights in pushing buttons.
Given this, it’s unsurprising that Rock’s third directorial effort casts him as Andre Allen, an actor approaching 50 who’s amassed more demons than accolades. Yearning for legitimacy, the recovering alcoholic has bankrolled a prestige picture in which he plays a Haitian revolutionary. However, the film’s rank awfulness (which, admittedly, would’ve been considerably funnier if played more subtly) and Andre’s impending televised nuptials to a reality show diva (Gabrielle Union) threaten to reduce him to a pop culture punchline. Consequently, he’s in a reflective mood when an intrepid reporter (Rosario Dawson) engages him in an extended interview.
As the pair drift through New York City, calling on Andre’s old acquaintances, revisiting seminal moments and embarking on conversational tangents (including some cutting remarks regarding the fate that might have awaited Tupac had he lived longer), Top Five occasionally recalls Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy.
Over the course of their odyssey, Rock proves himself a rather dextrous director, counterpointing boisterous comic set pieces with insights into the peculiarities of celebrity marriage, precariousness of sobriety and the intense frustration of a comedian who just doesn’t feel funny anymore. Conversely, Rock has rarely been this in-form in a feature, proving that there is life after Grown Ups 2.
