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Film: Also Opening There's nothing new here
[Photo: Columbia Pictures]
National Security stars Martin Lawrence, left, and Steve Zahn as security guards who get tangled up in a smuggling operation. |
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 16, 2003
Impersonating police officers is nothing new for Martin Lawrence, although he doesn't need any stinking badges to make people laugh. Lawrence is always funnier in comedy concert films (Runteldat, You So Crazy) than cop comedies like Blue Streak and Bad Boys. His new movie, National Security (PG-13), is more of the latter. It features Lawrence as an expelled police academy cadet working as a security guard and posing as an LAPD patrol officer on the side. Steve Zahn (Joy Ride) co-stars as an equally inept "flashlight cop" -- borrowing Lawrence's description of security guards in Blue Streak -- also playing real cops and robbers. Of course, they get mistaken for authentic law enforcement officers and dragged into a standard movie caper, this time a smuggling operation. Eric Roberts co-stars as the guy most likely to be the villain. National Security is directed by Dennis Dugan, whose resume reads like a list of reasons why Hollywood should be abolished: the films Problem Child, Beverly Hills Ninja, Saving Silverman and Big Daddy, and TV series such as Shasta McNasty and The Love Boat: The Next Wave. Impersonating a filmmaker is nothing new for him.
It's a youth market thing
[Photo: MGM Pictures]
Julia Stiles, left, catches the eye of an engaged man (Jason Lee, right) in A Guy Thing.
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A Guy Thing (PG-13) stars Jason Lee (Almost Famous, Mumford) as Paul Morse, a nice guy determined to remain faithful to his fiancee (Selma Blair). His buddies make it difficult by throwing a rowdy bachelor party, resulting in Paul awakening in bed with his fiancee's cousin Becky (Julia Stiles). Neither can remember what happened the night before, and Paul's guilt is gradually replaced by an attraction to Becky. A Guy Thing may perform well at the box office this weekend, after last week's Just Married, another comedy with MTV vibes, debuted in first place. Lee and Stiles are two popular youth market draws these days, and older viewers like myself unofficially voted them the ones most likely to still make an impact after next year, unlike Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy of Just Married.
Kicks, yes. Laughs, no.
[Photo: Castle Rock Entertainment]
The starring marsupial gives human co-star Jerry O’Connell a kick in Kangaroo Jack.
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The movie guaranteed to sink Down Under this weekend is Kangaroo Jack (PG), whose preview trailers are almost too painful to watch. The title character is a marsupial created by animatronics and digital animation, making him more realistic than the human stars or the embarrassments they endured for this paycheck. Jerry O'Connell, who lived with roaches in Joe's Apartment, and Anthony Anderson, who dodged dog droppings in See Spot Run, stoop even lower for laughs here. They play best friends taking a job delivering $50,000 to a mysterious person in Australia. Before you can say "Crocodile Dundee," the loot gets stolen by Kangaroo Jack, resembling Jar Jar Binks with better posture. Wackiness ensues, of course. St. Petersburg Times Xpress movie critic Billy Norris gave a C+ grade to Kangaroo Jack, and he's part of the target audience. What's the Australian word for flop?
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