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A New Martin Lawrence Comedy Screens And Our Spy Is There!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
Haven’t heard a word about this one until now.
Is there a reason? Or is this a gem in the rough?
Hi. Julie LaVerne here.
I was offered tix to see an upcoming Martin Lawrence comedy down at the Marina Marketplace tonight.
Its called THE BETTER MAN - and its basically a black MEET THE PARENTS with Lawrence in the put upon Ben Stiller role. All in all a solid mix of character humor and outright slapstick comedy. Its good. I would say a solid notch or two above the Tyler Perry films.
The setup itself is failry generic - big time Dr. Phil self help TV guru Lawrence is guilted home for his parents 50th Anniversary. He's engaged to the newest Survivor winner BIANCA - but is still smitten with the girl that got away back in the day, LUCINDA.
Having just gotten back from TWO GODDAMN WEEKS ON KIAWAH ISLAND WITH MY GODDAMN HUSBAND'S NASTY SISTERS -- I COULD RELATE!
Anyway, poor Lawrence's self esteem issues all come back at him full force by way of his crazy ass family who are played by some freaking fantastic comedians like MIKE EPPS and MO'NIQUE (but more about them later as they truly steal the show.) This 'frustration comedy' element is pretty hilarious at times but I actually started to get pissed off on Lawrence's behalf as he keeps trying to take the high road everytime his obnoxious cousin (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER) baits him.
Often times these folksy kinds of urban comedies (SOUL FOOD comes to mind) stumble by being too saccharine when they slow down and get emotional or dramatic - the good with this is that it never gets too sentimental, just keeps it light and sweet when touchy relationship issues play out. There's actually a really testy scene in the end where Martin Lawrence is in the final 'competition' against Cedric (on an obstacle course)..and he leaves his son behind just to win. Without giving too much away I'll just say that the fallout from it is an angry confrontation with his Dad (Darth Vader hisself, JAMES EARLE JONES) that is handled fairly straighforward and honestly. And brief - as in 'We get it. Don't play it too hard' - and luckily they don't.
So thats the nice, sweet stuff.
The real deal is: MO'NIQUE. She comes into the movie with an almost 10 minute rant about her dirty sex crazed bible meetings and this unbelievable description of her micro thong. The energy of the movie definitely picks up when she comes on and the audience was audibly excited by her. They give her like 3 more monologues in the movie and they are RAW and HILARIOUS - laugh out loud. I want her to work more - she may be too much to carry a whole movie but as a supporting character she's genius.
Also, MIKE EPPS is pretty good. Again, jolts the movie with a dirtbag, sex crazed attitude that keeps things easy and light.
The pacing seems to lag in parts - a few scenes where Lawrence is alone talking to himself felt like treading water - so I would say they could stand to cut it down a bit. But like many smart comedies, you can cut to two mismatched dogs mating or a fart joke and all is forgiven.
But can I say? Why must they cast two SUPERMODELS to be the women vying for - of all people - Martin Lawrence?!?! Come on.
But this is a cute movie. Hilarious in parts. Mo' Mo'Nique!
Best,
Julie LaVerne, late of the Cotton Blossom
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I'm serious. How Lawrence has a career of any kind is beyond me.
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i think the reviewer loved it a lot and her husband's nasty sisters. I'm off to water my plants and this plant right here.
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"Coon-ery and bufoonery".
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The annoyance factor from those two actors alone will make this a turd to stay away from.
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Martin, Lawrence and "Comedy"!
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i was going to say exactly the same thing!
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Lawrence is incapable of the dynamic range required in an actor to accomplish that.
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Be smart y'all, it stars somebody who see's fit to call herself "Mo'Nique" and somebody else who has to add "...the Entertainer" to their name, lest we forget ! Shamon.
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Let's see how many "deal-breakers" they can shoe horn into one movie:
1. Martin Lawrence- Check
2. MO'NIQUE- Check
3. Cedric The Entertainer- Check -
Waht?
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It's almost fall. Time to plant some shit, apparently. PLANT!
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Just no.
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(S)he's awesome.
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Commie Pinkos!!!
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Sep 12, 2007 10:01:59 AM CDT
I'll only see this if there're some token white guys
by bringingsexyback
Luke Wilson and a large white cast kept Blue Streak from being a "Black" movie, which meant I can watch the movie without fear of being caught in a theater gangbang shootout.
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come on, I'll go see this. It'll be right after the holidays/awards season when we've all had it up to here with 'sweeping' Keira Knigtley movies..
And Monique's thong!?? T-H-E-R-E. Give it up for this, snobs!!! -
TNBs and COs all the way !
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...should never inhabit the same sentence.
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And he was hilarious with Tim Robbins in Nothing To Lose. Maybe he should do more movies with white people.
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would james earl jones even read a script for this, let alone agree to be in it
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I always appreciate a sentence like that, saves me from having to read the rest of the review. Thanks, whoever wrote this!
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"Luke Wilson and a large white cast kept Blue Streak from being a "Black" movie, which meant I can watch the movie without fear of being caught in a theater gangbang shootout."
My fiancee and I caught the midnight screening on a Friday night for BLACK KNIGHT. We were the only white folks in the room. We did not die.
Fuckin' hardcore, man. We watched a Martin Lawrence movie in a room full of black people... and lived!
In fairness, most of them found the movie funny, as did we. And as for NOTHING TO LOSE being his last funny movie... come on - will SOMEBODY else other than me PLEASE admit to watching and enjoying BAD BOYS 2? It made too much money to just be a coincidence!
NOTHING TO LOSE was damn funny, though. -
career on 30 Rock so effectively, why does the man think he's relevent to continue to make comedies? Oh yea, Wild Hogs was a hit. Wonders never cease.
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Planty McPlanterson......
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Fork this! Where's my Wild Hogs 2: Geriatric Bugaloo?!
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I never shout out PLANT when someone posts a review. I've seen it sometimes where people even say "I'm not a plant" in their review and people end up calling them out anyways. But... I mean c'mon - this person made it sound like this movie it's the funniest movie of the year. Monique is genius? Are you kidding me?
It's more than a Martin Lawrence comedy -- it's a SMART comedy.
Although if she is 'real' maybe she was audience for Wild Hogs. -
...and I bet you just LOVED Crash too didn't you, SexyBack???
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Gee, can't wait for the inevitable pile of shit that is Wild Hogs 2. And hey, can anyone explain to me the appeal of Mo'Nique? That bitch ain't funny.
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"I would say a solid notch or two above the Tyler Perry films"....Still about 20 notches below what I would even bother torrenting.
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No obituary for Jane Wyman, but articles on garbage like this? Ugh. Guess Wyman wasn't "cool" enough for AICN. Not cool like shitty fucking garbage unfunny Marin Lawrence tripe. It's sad.
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Oh yes.
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Keep it in your pants, my friend. I'm sure SexyBack dudn't mean anything racist, just that his collaborations with white people seem to go across to audiences better than those with other black people. There's probably a sociological reason for this, but it sure isn't racist.
I still prefer the BAD BOYS movies he made to his other stuff, though. For what it's worth. -
Mike Epps if funny too, ever watch All About the Benjamins? He's a funny guy. I don't think the comment about Martin Lawrence doing more movies with "White People" is racist, it just means that some people find him funnier when he's playing a role against the stereotypical straight man white guy. I loved ML in Life with Eddie Murphy,until it tried to be so serious.
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Just kidding!!
Martian, how am I racist when I WANT a black man to work with white people? That makes no damned sense. Cruel and LilJunior understood my point fine - Martin really shined as a black foil to Robbins and Wilson. And they had pretty funny stories to tell. I have a feeling Lawrence was feeling like a bit of a sell-out, like Chappelle did, and decided to retreat into the self-segregated state of "black movies". What a shame, I was looking forward to Blue Streak 2. It would've been great. -
I thought I'd be the first to point that out...."I AM A JEDIIII"
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Bad Boys 2 fuckin rocks!
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The white one isn't even that good.
And it's directed by the same guy who did UNDERCOVER BROTHER. Funny cast, but I'm not terribly sold. -
And to be honest, I was very hesitant to do it considering the problems of other Lawrence films (general bad attitude). I was pleasently surprised by how the show played out. It was great to work on and the cast had us laughing everyday. Martin was very personable and didn't show any signs of the Martin that has pissed off numerous other crew members from his earlier shows.
This is a funny movie that is directed well. It should be very entertaining and be money well spent. On a side note, I got hit in the nuts on set and Mr. Jones laughed at me! - Darth Vader laughed and said "oh, no. Not in the nuts." I'll remember that forever. -
He died.
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YES!!!! Kudos to you my friend! Now let's see the rest of you Bad Boys fans on these talkbacks. They WOULD NOT WORK without Martin Lawrence, and although I am a Caucasian Spud, I still think Martin Lawrence is one of the funniest guys onscreen. When he's angry, the faces he pulls just make me howl with laughter. I think that's what Ice Cube is going for in the ARE WE OVER YET? movies. It doesn't work. The only time a grumpy Cube made me laugh was in FRIDAY.
Watch RUSH HOUR 3. Now THAT'S a former comedian dying a death onscreen. Chris Tucker, give up and go home.
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