Movie Review: Top Five

The incomparable Chris Rock is not known for impersonations, but he mimics Woody Allen, Richard Linklater, Louis C.K. and even Federico Fellini in his directorial pet project Top Five.

No movie could have ever been as good as the one promised by the poster for Top Five.

Take a look. There’s actor, writer and director Chris Rock reveling in the aftermath of a swanky party, jacket off, flanked by a delighted Rosario Dawson and Gabrielle Union, with comics J.B. Smoove, Tracy Morgan, and current Saturday Night Live players Leslie Jones, Jay Pharoah and Michael Che (to name not even half of the poster’s participants) grinning wildly on the periphery. The FOMO is palpable. Imagine if they had snuck producers Jay Z and Kanye West in there too?

What’s even more impressive is that the performers of Top Five were seemingly eager to reconvene for a photo-shoot, rather than just have their floating heads photoshopped alongside one another.

Comedy dream-team assemblage aside, the one-sheet captures the warmth and familiarity amongst its very funny stars. If Top Five is worth seeing at all – and it is, mostly – it’s for the murderers’ row of talent being cycled through to steal a scene at a time from its lead. Few actor-directors are as generous as Rock, who gives the funniest lines to everyone else.

Rock plays Andre Allen, a world-famous comedian whose sliding career is reaching sub-Martin Lawrence levels. Set over twenty-four hours, on the eve of his wedding to reality star Erica Long (Union) and the day his first “serious” endeavour - the awful-looking, overwrought Uprizing - hits cinemas, the depressed Allen arrives in New York to be interviewed by a Times reporter, Chelsea Brown (Dawson).

Like him, Chelsea’s a recovering alcoholic, and despite some professional beef – the Times keep panning Andre’s work – sparks obviously begin to fly. She introduces him to her kid and debates with him the racial insensitivity of Planet of the Apes; he takes her on the soul-crushing promotional circuit and then to the home of some old friends from before he was famous. She keeps pressing him to answer why he doesn’t feel like being funny anymore. He regales her with the time his addiction caused him to hit rock bottom (no pun intended), not realising rock bottom is actually mere hours away.

Feeling like a more raucous Before Sunrise – maybe Rock was inspired by his 2 Days in New York director and co-star, Julie Delpy? – Top Five manages to find plenty of bawdy comic opportunities within its dramatic frame. Cedric the Entertainer, appearing only in flashback as a notorious enabler of Allen in Atlanta, pretty much earns an MA rating on his lonesome. Even a famed “clean” comedian pops up at the end of the feature to work a little bluer than usual. (Sadly, some ill-advised homophobic punch-lines sour their respective set pieces, and the experience overall.) However, focusing on the raunch is to totally ignore Top Five’s gooey rom-com center. Even I was surprised to find myself moved by the film’s genuinely great final fifteen minutes (and not just because DMX turns up to serenade Rock sweetly).

With flashes of Louie, 8 ½ and Stardust Memories, Top Five is disguised as the work of a more seasoned director. Yet, Rock is undeniably a rookie in this field. He's had an inauspicious career on celluloid. Despite being considered one of the most incendiary stand-ups (and, because of the time and place he rose to prominence – George W. Bush-era America - one of the most important), his IMDB page is a trail of flops and de-fanged disappointments. No wonder he’s taken to helming himself.  Because, Rock has a unique talent as a filmmaker: he’s the first to know what to do with Chris Rock, the actor. For the first time, it feels like we're really seeing him on screen. (It helps that the film flirts with semi-autobiographical subject matter.) His second gift may be knowing how to use all the other actors in his arsenal; bit players rarely given this much to work with. When was the last time you saw an almost entirely African American cast? If you mention a Tyler Perry project, I’ll add this: When was the last time you saw an almost-entirely African American cast used well?

The Pratts, the Hemsworths and the Evans of the world, talented as they may be, contribute to a homogenised Hollywood. Top Five is a welcome reminder that movies need not only star white guys named Chris.

3.5/5

In cinemas. Rated MA15+ for strong sex scenes, nudity and coarse language.