Release Date: January 17, 2003
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Steve Zahn, Eric Roberts, Colm Feore, Bill Duke, Timothy Busfield
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Written by: Jay Scherick, David Ronn
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (violence, language, some sensuality)
National Security has the total package of explosions, gunplay, babes, and two proven comedic actors. Unfortunately this package was shipped late and arrived in damaged condition.
The movie features Martin Lawrence performing the same routine and playing the same character that he has in many of his films -- a tendency that has become borderline annoying. Nevertheless, with action and cleavage aplenty, you might figure that, for at least the male segment of the audience, that tendency would be worth ignoring. Not so. The film turns out to be an overplayed amalgamation of cheap effects and bad jokes.
Security is written by Jay Scherick and David Ronn, who also collaborated on Serving Sara and the remake of I Spy, and as should be obvious, they still haven’t grasped the concept of developing a story beyond a few jokes and perhaps some action sequences. You get the feeling watching one of Sherick and Ronn’s movies that the two screenwriters don’t even bother with a plot until the very end.
For this one the “plot” is something like this: Los Angeles police officer Hank Rafferty (Steve Zahn) is caught in a shoot-out in which his partner, Charlie Reed (Timothy Busfield) is killed in the line of duty. This puts Hank into a high-strung mode that gets him kicked off the force and lands him in jail for six months.
When Hank gets out, he’s set on avenging his partner’s death while getting by as a security guard. To Hank’s surprise, the ex-con who got him in jail in the first place is his new partner, Earl Montgomery (Lawrence), who, more than anything, wants to be a real cop. Despite their shaky past, the two troublemakers team up to find out who killed Hank’s partner.
Besides the clichéd, contrived story (the partnership of Hank and Earl stretches even the most gullible moviegoer’s limits), the action was poorly executed. One shoot-out, for instance, takes place in a warehouse full of soda bottles, in which the central character isn’t the good guys or the bad guys but rather the egregious product placement.
Partial blame also lies with the stars. Lawrence has played the same fast-talking, locked-and-loaded cop in Blue Streak, Big Momma’s House, and this film, to name a few, and through it all there has been relatively little change in his comedy: he essentially overacts, and then blames the white man for everything.
Steve Zahn can be found in his usual supporting role here, but he comes up empty. In a way, he too has overplayed his act -- in this case, that of the dumb white guy. And while there’s a point when a producer might hire an actor because they’ve done the role well in the past, almost all of the cast of National Security was chosen for that reason. Eric Roberts, for instance, is synonymous with villains and B-films, which is what he’s doing here, and Bill Duke once again plays the role of the typically overbearing senior officer, having previously done it in both Exit Wounds and Red Dragon.
But long before the viewer contemplates these details, he’ll know that National Security is hardly a funny, entertaining film to spend an afternoon or quiet night watching. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
all contents © 2003 Michael J. Eiff