Top Five (6/10): Chris Rock referencing Linklater, Allen, and Iñarritu.

"No everything does not mean something. Okay, sometimes a movie is just a movie. Sometimes a song is just a song. Sometimes a joke is just a joke.”

Top Five is the third time that Chris Rock sits on the director’s chair, and like in his previous movies he wrote the screenplay and starred in it, but this is by far his most critically acclaimed film. It works best when it focuses on the relationship developing during the course of one day between the character he plays, Andre Allen, a Hollywood celebrity comedian who is trying to become a serious actor, and Chelsea Brown, a NY Times reporter played by Rosario Dawson who is trying to write a piece on the actor’s life. The chemistry between both actors is pretty strong and the scenes in which they both walk around the streets of NY together having honest conversations is reminiscent of Linklater’s Before trilogy and some of Woody Allen’s earlier work. That was the highlight of the film for me, but I wasn’t a fan of some of the flashbacks included in the movie, especially the one where Andre confessed the lowest point of his life to her involving a scene taking place in Houston with Cedric the Entertainer that many found hilarious, but I found extremely vulgar. The scenes taking place in the present while Andre introduced Chelsea to his family in NY were also pretty solid, with a funny cameo from Tracy Morgan as his brother. 

But Top Five is also a satire of celebrity lifestyle and reality TV. There are some comparisons to Birdman, due to the fact that Andre is a famous actor known for playing the popular character of Hammy the Bear in a Blockbuster Hollywood franchise, but he is tired of simply being a funny man and wants to leave an important legacy by making serious movies. That is why now he is trying to promote his new dramatic film in which he plays a Haitian revolutionary who helps the slaves uprise against their white masters. However his fans seem more interested in his upcoming marriage with reality TV star Erica Long (Gabrielle Union). Chris Rock uses satire and clever dialogues to tackle some of these issues, but I honestly enjoyed the film more when it centered on his relationship with Chelsea and simply had the camera following the two around the city. There is a funny cameo that takes place in a prison, that Chris Rock uses effectively to state the underlying message of the film which is sticking to what you do best. 

In a way this film is sort of autobiographical considering Rock hasn’t been doing anything interesting lately or nearly as engaging as his stand up routine. There are several underlying themes throughout the film (and in way at times they do feel disjointed or convoluted) but one of them is about returning to your roots and doing what you do best, which in Rock’s case is stand up comedy. This film is written in such a way that it has that similar feeling and you can imagine Rock telling these jokes in a stage. The title, Top Five, comes up often in conversations as the characters give their personal list of favorite MC’s. I honestly didn’t know half of the people they were listing so I won’t attempt to make a personal list as many have done after watching the film, but it is evident that Rock has an appreciation for hip hop and it is heavily used as a theme throughout the movie. Overall this is Rock’s best film as a director and there are several engaging and funny scenes throughout the film. Seeing Rosario Dawson and Chris Rock sharing this great chemistry together was the best part of Top Five. 

My Review: Rio (7/10)

¨This is great. I'm chained to the only bird in the world who can't fly! Is there anything else I need to know? ¨

Carlos Saldanha gives us one of the most colorful movies of the year, and it couldn´t have been any other way considering the story takes place in beautiful Rio de Janeiro. Saldanha pays homage to the city where he was born, and does it by showing us the beauty of its locations, its people, and its music, during one of the most fun and colorful events that take place every year: Carnival. It`s impossible not to like this animated film, despite having a weak and predictable plot, because not liking it would be like not enjoying a trip to Rio. Saldanha takes us to his city and shows us all the beauty Rio has to offer. The visuals in the film are excellent and we get plenty of aerial shots of the city, we see its beautiful beaches, tropical forests, and even get to experience a motorcycle ride across its infamous favela. We also get to meet some of their eccentric characters (Saldanha has a lot of fun with the stereotypes), although the main attraction of the movie are the colorful animals. Animated films have matured greatly over the years and we`ve come to expect excellent visual effects, but in Rio the visuals are the main attraction and the characters are just a product of their environment. Rio is much better than the other animated film 2011 had to offer: Rango. Rango was an animated film I disliked, but I admitted the visuals were fantastic. Neither of the films have a decent story or memorable characters, but the difference with Rio is that when you have Rio de Janeiro the city itself becomes a character and a very memorable one for that matter. That is why the movie is such fun because it’s all about Rio and not so much as the rest of the characters.

The film opens in the tropical jungles of Brazil where a blue macaw`s life will change forever when a group of poachers take him captive and smuggle him to the States. Somewhere along the way the bird ends up in chilly Minnesota after the truck that is smuggling him hits the breaks a little too hard and the box where he`s in ends up flying out of the truck. The macaw is fortunate enough to be found by a young girl named Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann) who takes good care of him. She names the bird Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and they both seem to be enjoying a comfortable life together when all of a sudden they get a visit from a Brazilian ornithologist, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro), who claims that Blu is the last male bird of his species. Tulio has found a female macaw (Jewell, voiced by Anne Hathaway) and needs Linda to take Blu to Rio so the birds can breed and save the species. Linda unwillingly takes Blu to Rio and that is where the fun begins because Jewel and Blu don`t get off to a right start. She is more of a free spirited bird who enjoys her liberty, and he is a domesticated macaw who can`t even fly. Somehow both birds are kidnapped from the lab by a smuggler named Marcel (Carlos Ponce) along with his stupid accomplices, and accompanied by an evil and scary cockatoo named Nigel (Jermaine Clement). Blu and Jewel manage to escape from these poachers but not before they end up being chained together. Both birds end up on a journey trying to free themselves while escaping from Nigel and the poachers and along the way they befriend Rafael (George Lopez) the toucan, Pedro (Will.i.am) the red-crested cardinal, Nico (Jamie Foxx) the yellow canary, and Luiz (Tracy Morgan), the bulldog.        

The plot is probably the weakest part out of the 96 minute movie because it is very predictable: it`s a formula picture where we have a male and female lead character that can`t stand each other at first only to end up discovering they have feelings for each other. We`ve all come to expect these stories from Hollywood were opposites attract. Fox-Blue Sky Studios may not have the depth in their stories as Pixar does, but they sure can deliver great visuals. Don`t expect a heartfelt story like Pixar`s Up or Toy Story and I guarantee you will enjoy this fun colorful movie because Rio de Janeiro is a fun place to be, especially during Carnival. The city itself becomes the main character in this film and that is why the movie is called Rio and not Blu or Jewel. The details of the city and the beautiful locations couldn’t have been enjoyed more if it wasn`t for Carlos Saldanha and his love for the city in which he was born. Rio is a fun and entertaining movie where kids and adults will have a good time alike thanks to the beauty of its scenery enjoyed mostly through aerial shots, and the soundtrack full of Samba which identifies the city. Saldanha couldn’t have picked a more different location from his previous film: Ice Age, and the result is visually noticeable. Rio is a lot of fun and I recommend this animated film for the entire family.

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