Blue Streak

There’s ultimately little doubt that Blue Streak would’ve fared a whole lot better without Martin Lawrence in the central role, as the actor delivers a hopelessly broad and relentlessly grating performance that proves effective at single-handedly negating the film’s few positive attributes. The storyline follows jewel thief Miles Logan (Lawrence) as he emerges from a prison stint determined to retrieve the valuable diamond he hid two years earlier, with complications ensuing as Miles is forced to assume the identity of a detective to retrieve said diamond (which is now sitting inside a police station). It’s a can’t-lose premise that admittedly does ensure that the movie generally comes off as an affable piece of work, yet the unwarranted emphasis on silliness becomes too much to bear almost immediately – as Lawrence seems to have been given free reign to indulge in his every comedic whim. The resulting spree of mugging and overacting is nothing short of painful, with the collective efforts of Lawrence’s talented costars, including Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, and William Forsythe, at picking up the slack falling almost entirely flat. Exacerbating matters is the egregiously action-packed third act – which, naturally, kicks off in an abandoned warehouse – that starts off well enough but grows increasingly tedious as it progresses, and although screenwriters Michael Berry, John Blumenthal, and Stephen Carpenter deserve credit for steering clear of melodrama at the film’s close, Blue Streak is simply unable to overcome the scenery-chewing excess of Lawrence’s hopelessly incompetent turn.

** out of ****