Blue Streak (1999) / Comedy-Action
MPAA Rated: PG-13 for action violence, continuous language and some crude humor
Running Time: 93 min.Cast: Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Peter Greene, William Forsythe, Dave Chappelle
Director: Les Mayfield
Screenplay: Michael Berry, John Blumenthal, Stephen Carpenter
Review published March 17, 2000
Miles (Lawrence, Life) is a jewel thief who gets double-crossed by a ruthless partner with heisting a large diamond in Los Angeles. Before getting nabbed by the cops, Miles hides the diamond in a large air duct in a building he is in. After a couple of years in prison, Miles is out to get the diamond back and is shocked to realize the building is now home to a rather high security police headquarters. Miles assumes the identity of a police officer to gain access inside, and ironically gets assigned as the lead burglary detective. Now he has to keep fooling the cops, while the man who double-crossed him is now on his case to get the diamond as well.
Blue Streak is one of the most painfully unfunny and inept comedies to come out in 1999. Martin Lawrence mugs and ad-libs his way through a script with no funny lines as if one could make a film funny through sheer high-energy antics.
Had the script had a little credibility to work with, perhaps he might have succeeded, but the film is so bereft of any idea of what it's doing, it merely calls attention to how desperately Lawrence is to spark some comedic situations where none can be found. Doing little or no research into police procedures (or criminal ones for that matter), this film has no believable legs to stand on and offers only idiotically contrived moments we've seen done a hundred times before. Bad performances, bad directing, bad screenwriting -- what would you say that adds up to?
Blue Streak is one streak that truly blew.
©2000 Vince Leo
