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Top Five (2014), R, ★★★1/2

Chris Rock and Gabrielle Union on the red carpet.
Chris Rock is probably one of the funniest comedians because of his energetic pacing and riffraff regarding any type of subjects from his personal life to the public news to politics. Any movie he is in he can have one free joke that can make us laugh even if it is in a bad movie. However, unfortunately, I'll take that back, he had no funny moments in Grown Ups 2. But, that is a rarity. Anyway, this movie, however, it reflects on how a comedian's life goes through the transition of a personal life to a Hollywood life even mixing in his own point of view from his African-American cultures, such as, for example, when he comments that it is hard for a black man to hail a cab in New York, but the cab stops to take him for a ride. This movie works blending his comic persona with a sweet romance.

Comedian Andre Allen (Chris Rock) and reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) are discussing the times and ways that are changing in America. He talks about when President Obama does something right, he is being praised and if there is something wrong regarding our nation, people blame him. Chelsea responds that there may be a Latina, Chinese or handicap president in the future. He has had a successful career as a stand-up comedian until his movie in "Hammy the Bear" Luis Guzman and he has been arrested and he is recovering from alcoholism. He is also engaged to TV reality star Erica Long (Gabrielle Union) and is also questioned by the media whether or not he'll do stand-up again or make another "Hammy" movie.

Andre meets with Chelsea again for the interview and they stop at the apartment and they go on a limo discussing his worst memory which was in Houston in 2003, where he met Jazzy Dee (Cedric "The Entertainer"), a person who claims that he sells drugs and alcohol. Well, I cannot tell you what happens it's funny and heartbreaking simultaneously. After that anecdote, they both leave the limo after an accident with a cab driver and we learn why Andre is with Erica. He also stops by a place where he and Chelsea meet his old friends (Jay Pharaoh, Michael Che, Tracy Morgan and Leslie Jones) and his ex-girlfriend (Sherri Shepherd) in one of the funniest scenes in the film. But, his ex says that she regrets leaving Andre because of his fame, but his friends do not think he is funny. Andre gets worried because he reveals to Chelsea how he makes jokes.

Sherri Shepherd, Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson.
This movie impressed me because Chris Rock's movie lately have not been that great and they been utterly forgettable. However, this is one of his best films because it is crafted well experiencing his times as a stand-up comedian for better and for worse. It analyzes a comedian's process of being funny, pretending to be funny, being famous and being liberal. The movie is quite crafted exquisitely for not being a dialed-down narrative, even though, it plays like one, but with energy and vulnerability. Rock is serious and funny with the audience, his characters and at times in the movie, with himself such as the scene where he buys beer because of a twisted situation.

Rock is terrific and is still funny. He almost personifies the best of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, but does not because he is Chris Rock. He is his own comedian that makes us laugh out loud with tears coming out of our eyes. But, he is also giving a good performance. His chemistry with Dawson is hit-and-miss at times but there's a nice romance without a conventional romance and I think Rock's screenplay sculpts the relationship quite beautifully. Of course, there are moments with Cedric "the Entertainer" that are funny and with Kevin Hart. Whoopi Goldberg, Adam Sandler and Jerry Seinfeld are also cameoing in this film.

It is a very smart film about a comedian's life and I think that Rock's energy is not as crazy as in his other films. His character is restrained and vulnerable but he has comments and jokes that creates of burst of laughter and brilliance. The quibble is the twisted situation as to why he is drinking again and also, the ending is a little abrupt for my taste. But, this is an entertaining funny and wonderful film that will embrace how a comedian is living and I tip my hat off to Chris Rock for pouring his soul onto this project as an actor, writer, director and comedian. One of the best surprises of 2014.

***1/2

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