Double Take

An all around great movie. It was clever in the way Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffith switched characters and the jokes were all solid. There was a lot of depth to the characters that you usually don't get from comedies. A must see. Avoid Undercover Brother! See this instead.

Director George Gallo penned MIDNIGHT RUN, one of the very best action / buddy-buddy pictures ever to have graced our screens. More than ten years on, and this feels like an ill-advised and incredibly anaemic imitation. The lead characters here are marginally appealing, but as the script races on at breakneck speed and virtually collapses under the number of twists, they are given precious room to develop and engage our sympathies. It all feels so very daft and inconsequential in the final analysis. A time-filler at best, but in the context of MIDNIGHT RUN, also a considerable letdown.

Me and my wife went to see this movie after seeing the hilarious previews for about a month before it came out... and we were not disappointed! It turned out to be a bit of 'Rush Hour', 'Bad Boys' and yeah maybe even 'Blue Streak' and any other buddy/buddy movie you may care to mention all rolled into one. True, it wasn't better than any of those three, but man Griffin and Orlando are certainly a double act to look out for in the future. Hilarious situations complemented by high profile action and a neat (if sometimes confusing) plot help to buoy the movie along at a frantic pace. But it's the performances which are the real jewel in the crown and Griffin (last seen, if I remember correctly, in 'Deuce Bigelow') and Jones (wasn't he in Armageddon?) are REAL good together, so much so that I kept telling my wife Misty that they MUST have acted together before on TV or something because they really act well off each other. The funny scenes are numerous, with the stand out ones being the malt liquor scene on the train and the running gag about that guy's cross eyes. Mark my words, though... Griffin and Jones are most certainly two names to look out for. Go see and judge for yourselves!

Apparently some people DIDN'T like this movie, but its hard to see why. While certainly not destined to become a film classic, the miscellaneous plot holes are CERTAINLY no worse than most Hollywood fare, and as an overall movie I think rates a whole lot better than a lot of what's cranked out these days (2006). I REALLY enjoyed this movie, as did most of the other people who I have persuaded to watch the DVD, which I purchased after seeing the movie in the theater. JOnes and Griffin are both in great form, with the edge definitely going to Griffin's thoroughly brilliant comedy throughout. A great buddy movie, with great performances and production values, thoroughly entertaining, and very, very, funny. If you don't mind a movie that's not too cerebral, doesn't take itself too seriously, and doesn't aspire to be anything more than a thoroughly enjoyable comedic romp (with more than a few twists and a fair amount of action along the way), then you'll appreciate this. I don't think Mr. Gallo was aiming for an Oscar with this one, but it was completely satisfying for what it was. Incidentally, the music score and soundtrack were also remarkable.

Considering that Double Take is marketed like a spinoff of the old TV show "In Living Color", I was very surprised when I found a real action/adventure joint along the lines of Bad Boys here. It actually has a very well written plot to it.

A little whodunit with some action and some comedy to keep it fun. They even had an Old School dance sequence thrown in (believe it or not)that had me going, "Oh snap! I haven't seen THAT since middle school!"

Both Eddie Griffin and (the 7UP dude) prove that they can both actually act. That was the LAST thing I was expecting - and that's a GOOD thing!

Go see it.