New York City. Comedian Andre Allen is in a pinch: he decided to stop drinking, but thinks it was alcohol that made him funny in his early career. He starred in three "Hammy the Bear" comedy films, wearing a bear costume, but he now wants to be a serious actor, yet his upcoming new film "Uprize", about the Haitian Revolution, may not attract that much attention. On top of that, he is about to get married to reality TV star Erica. Andre spends the day with New York Times reporter Chelsea and they are attracted to each other, but then he finds out her alias is actually a film critic who bashed his films. Andre does a stand-up and finds out he is still funny, even without alcohol. He parts ways with Chelsea in friendly terms.
Chris Rock's 3rd feature length film as a director is a semi-autobiographical comedy with a lot of 'rough' edges, sometimes even misguided scenes, but its ending is even a bit emotional in its contemplation of a comedian who wants to be more in life than just someone who tells jokes. Rock is the best when he simply acts the way he is and displays his witty, sharp wisecracks: the joke where his character Andre is discussing with Chelsea if "Planet of the Apes" is actually an allegory on white man's fear of black people taking over the planet is hilarious, worthy of the best lines in early movies of K. Smith, and some random thoughts about life and the world provide a genuine 'hangout' mood: "Bill Murray's like, you know, perhaps top three funniest human beings to ever walk the Earth. And the guy you most likely want to hang out with, and drop his name. Like: yeah, I know Bill Murray... Charlie Chaplin, he started this shit. He is the KRS-One of comedy. He is the Grandmaster Flash of ha-ha." Unfortunately, the movie strays way too much from intellectual humor to go towards dumb, tasteless, low type of humor: at least two sequences (Andre has sex with two prostitutes in the hotel, but then his guide enters the room, pushes him away and continues having sex with the two women; Chelsea putting hot sauce on her tampon and then pushing it into her boyfriend's butt) are bad and unnecessary, wrecking the overall impression of the movie. "Top Five" is a loose slice-of-life film about an actor who is just "a little famous", as Rock puts it, and the contradiction of life of celebrities and their private life, whereas it offers sometimes food for thought: a movie about Haitian Revolution, referenced in the story, would actually be a fascinating project.
Grade:++
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