January 5, 2015 -- It seems like comedies have fallen on hard times. Few of them seem to be actually funny anymore. One of the exceptions to this is “Top Five,” written, directed and starring comedian Chris Rock and some other top black entertainers, with cameos by Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler and Charlie Rose.

This is a funny, loud, profane, obscenity-laced film about the lives of entertainment celebrities, reality TV, alcoholism and show business. The film also demonstrates Chris Rock's sharp observations of society and show business. It is a combination of high and low comedy.

The main character, Andre Allen (Rock) is a comic and movie star whose career is on a downward arc. His new movie (a serious movie about a slave rebellion) is a flop and he is getting married to a reality TV star that he doesn't seem to like all that much. He's been sober for four years, but everyone says he was funnier when he was a drunk. He is beginning to wonder if that is true.

In the middle of all this, Allen has an interview with a New York Times reporter, Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson of “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”). Allen tries his usual interview banter, but Brown wants him to tell the truth, which he finally agrees to do because he is attracted to her. The two end up spending hours together, revealing a lot about themselves to each other.

Allen tells a lot of stories about when he hit bottom, when he decided to stop drinking, but when he tells the truth, it turns out to be a crazy tale of an out of control weekend with prostitutes and a wild location manager, Jazzy Dee (Cedric the Entertainer of “Cadillac Records”). Later in the day, when Allen discovers Brown's dark secret, he gets angry and falls off the wagon, resulting in his arrest in a liquor store. There is also a wild scene at Allen's bachelor party, a carefully staged media event.

Brown is also a recovering alcoholic and she has her own problems dealing with Allen, but her heart is in the right place, and she tries to help him out of the rut he has gotten himself into in his career. Despite the wild sex, alcoholism and the anger that Allen feels toward his harshest critics, this is a good-natured film about a man trying to find his center and make it in show business without selling out. It is also an effective romantic comedy. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2015 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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