Can Jamie Kennedy carry a movie by himself? While he has proven he can handle being the stupid guy standing next to the main character in films like "Scream," "Malibu's Most Wanted" is his first headlining film, and the answer movie-goers will find is that no, Kennedy is not leading man material.
Kennedy plays wannabe-rapper Brad Gluckman, or (as he calls himself) "B-Rad." B-Rad lives in Malibu in a mansion with a five-car garage that's always full. Kennedy overplays his role on purpose, trying to be funny but ending up being simply annoying - except for his catch phrase, "Don't be hatin'."
Gluckman's father (Ryan O'Neal) is running for governor, with a campaign that's going smoothly. Well, smoothly, aside from the fact his son keeps popping up and embarrassing him during important publicity moments. Dad's campaign manager, Tom (Blair Underwood), devises a plan: They will hire two actors, have them pretend to be gangsters, kidnap Brad, and show the wannabe what the 'hood is really like.
While Kennedy's performance leaves much to be desired, Anthony Anderson ("Me, Myself and Irene") and Taye Diggs ("Basic") arrive as the would-be kidnappers and help the film along. Their characters are two extremely pretentious, somewhat effeminate, out-of-work actors. They can barely pull off gangsters, but they kill the boredom of the movie with their comedic skills, which are especially effective when they're "out of character" and critiquing each other's acting techniques. They even criticize the real gangsters for not being convincing.
Other than those two, there really isn't anyone in the movie worth watching, and the plot plays out too quickly for the film's length.
Standard subplots involve B-Rad's love interest, Shondra (Regina Hall), a sister of one of the actors. When Anderson and Diggs' characters use Shondra's house to stage Gluckman's kidnapping, she gets to know the aspiring rapper. Their ending up together stretches the limits of believability, since B-Rad acts like an idiot throughout the movie and doesn't change by the end.
The hip-hop scene is probably the closest this movie comes to being funny. It is a sort of spoof on Eminem's "8-Mile," where there is a freestyle rap battle with a cameo by Mike Epps ("Next Friday"). Half of the rappers refuse to battle B-Rad, because he is clearly not worthy. He proves this when he gets his hands on the mic. Rhyming "pasta" with "faster," the only title B-Rad should be taking away is "worst rapper ever." While this scene is entertaining, the rest of the film could be scrapped.
Even the gangsters look more like R&B rejects than Compton natives, sporting names like 8-ball and Deuce.
The bottom line is that anyone caught outside a movie theater on a rainy night with no place else to go might think "Malibu's Most Wanted" is a better alternative than getting soaked.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
