Blue Streak
As I watched the trailers for this movie I warned myself that although it looked funny, it was probably going to be a little too idiotic and predictable, and that the best parts were probably all in the previews. I hate it when I'm right.
The film is based on a group of burglars who steal an enormous diamond only to be caught in the act. Martin hides the jewel in the heating ducts of a building under construction with the idea that he'll return later to claim it. Only problem is that later the building becomes a precinct headquarters. Only by impersonating a police officer himself can he gain entry to the remote area he needs to reach, and that just lands him in one pitfall after another. Every time he seems about to get alone to hunt for it, he's sent on an assignment; each time he finds it, he loses it in some blundering manner. The sight gags are cheap and antics are frayed, and I didn't find myself enjoying it anywhere near as much as I had hoped I would. I hate hype (by the way, Me-sa still hate Jar-Jar).
Don't get me wrong; it was a good movie. But it really had the same feel Beverly Hills Cop did for me in '84. The plot was telegraphed, and some of the scenes where Martin does characters (like the pizza delivery guy) just went on too long. Did some of the SNL writers pitch in for the script? Some of the things I thought would be expanded upon weren't. Case in point: showing up at his old girlfriend's house in the previews. After the bit you see in the trailer, there's another two minutes to the scene and two lines worth of reference to her later in the movie. And why go through all the trouble to hire a babe as the public defender if she's going to say three lines and have nothing to do with Martin?
Although I really like Martin, I haven't really thoroughly enjoyed anything he's done since Bad Boys. Life, earlier this year, was an SBD released in the theatres, stinking itself out of existence. This wasn't the answer to boost him back into box office favor. My advice: if you get bored some weekend, see this at a discount theatre or for a matinee. It wouldn't hurt to wait for video release, either.
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