| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
C- |
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| Acting: |
C |
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| Direction: |
D+ |
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| Visuals: |
B- |
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HOW (NOT) TO BE A PLAYA...
by Tyroc (movies profile)
May 2, 2004
Part 1987s Fatal Attraction, part 1984s Heartbreakers and 1950s Sunset Boulevard A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE(the title taken from The Persuaders' 1972 classic song and performed on the soundtrack by the not-classic group H-Town)would fancy itself a morality play on what happens when one becomes obsessed with a lover but comes off more as a "dawg" biting off more than he can chew. Or, as my mom would be apt to put it, "A stupid fool who messes over The Wrong One".
It's a "thin line" indeed for Writer-director Martin Lawrence. Lawrence stars as Darnell, a hopeless male chauvinist. Darnell is a crude-but-smooth talker and lady's man who doesn't take no for an answer. He works for Smitty(Magnum P.I.s Roger E. Mosley) at his nightclub called Chocolate City where he and his friend Tee(Bobby Brown) aspires someday to be its owners. He trades VIP privileges at the club for sexual favors from women, who are definitely game and grab up the VIPs like they were brand new Lexus's. He spends 90% of his time running game on the women, 5% with his doting mother(Della Reese), 4.98% taking care of, in order, his car, his clothes and Chocolate City. The remaining 0.02% is spent dealing with his childhood sweetheart Mia (Regina King), who waits patiently for Darnell to end his doggish ways, "like a any woman would". Enter the classy, elegant Brandi Web (Lynn Whitfield). To Darnell, she is the Mack Daddy's Mt. Everest, his ultimate prize and a he's just got to hit this "mount"ain. Of course Brandi momentarily fights off Darnell advances but she can't tempt fate(or the script) as he continues his pursuit of her and when he shows up with flowers at her real estate office, instead of calling the cops on this clown like 98% of the women in America, Darnell finally wins over Brandi. Of course, he puts it on her soooo good that she becomes obsessed with him. What a tangled "Brandi Web" we weave. Quicker than you can say LEFT EYE GOT SOME MATCHES, she just going buck wild. Trashing his car and showing up at his house and confronting Darnell and his Moms(in one of the movie's funnier scenes), is just the tip of the iceberg before she eventually loses all control and ends up shooting Darnell(who by this time, we are supposed to feel symphathic for because, hey, he told her that he was through with her butt and get with Mia, Jagged Edge's LETS GET MARRIED style, didn't he???).
Whatever.
THIN LINE was one frustrating, stupid and silly movie, the kind of slop that you have come to expect from Lawrence. His Darnell character was nothing more than a playa who wanted us to believe that a sista who had her s*** together as tight as Lynn Whitfield's Brandi did in this movie would self destruct so quickly after just one night of "loving" with playa Darnell??? As a matter of fact, we were supposed to believe that every single woman who came into contact with Darnell was supposed to act like they got hit with Love Potion #9 and just wait around, patiently for the Smooth Operator to come a mackin' only to snap back to reality when he cuts them loose? Please give me a break...only a selfish, daydreaming jackass would write a script that amounts to a horny man's fantasy, like this and expect us to buy it. A great cast has to deal with this partial lobotomy of a script and is left floundering. Especially Whitfield(I understand you have to pay the bills but DAYAM! Did you have to go out like this???)Boy was she over qualified for the role of Brandi, but she makes the most of role that she can and the movie comes to life only when she is on the screen. Other than that, A Thin Line is a good ideal ultimately done in by the writer and director's (Martin Lawrence...hmmm, I am beginning to sence a pattern here) refusal to tarnish the lead actor's good guy image.
There are some lines that just weren't meant to be crossed I suppose.
Heh, Heh, Heh. |
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