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Double Take
DVD
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Double Take No Stars (PG-13)
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Reviewed By George O. Singleton
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Born in the image of Steppin' Fetchit
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Daryl: Orlando Jones
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Freddy: Eddie Griffin
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Shari: Vivica A. Fox
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Chloe: Garcelle Beauvais
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Agent Martinez: Benny Nieves
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FBI Agent McGready: Gary Grubbs
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Director: George Gallo
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30 Second Bottom Line: A business executive, accused of murder, trades places with a street vendor so he can escape capture. He soon learns that the street vendor is wanted for an even bigger crime that figuratively makes him jump from the frying pan into the fire.
Story Line: Daryl (Orlando Jones) is an executive flunky in corporate America who gets into big trouble by being on the periphery of a drug dealer's money-laundering scheme. After his assistant Shari (Vivica A. Fox) is found dead and he is accused of killing two FBI agents, he goes on the run.
A few days earlier Daryl became the victim of a street scam where guy # 1 takes his briefcase and street dancer Freddy (Eddie Griffin), as guy # 2, chases guy #1 and recovers it. Of course he keeps his hand out to Daryl for an ever-increasing reward. When Daryl goes on the lam he gets the bright idea to trade places with Freddy. He later learns, as he's ready to cross the border into Mexico, that Freddy is wanted for the murder of a former Governor in Mexico.
Both Daryl and his girlfriend Chloe (Garcelle Beauvais) are heartbroken because of his change in circumstances. The chase story and road trips that evolve serve as a basis for a variety of jokes. Freddy is a James Brown look alike, with the long processed hair, exaggerated movements and quick-witted barbs like " I went to HKU (Hard Knocks University)… rather than Harvard." He later boasts that black people like fried chicken and that Mexican women have big rear ends.
Tell Me More About It: There is a funny scene of a crook falling down the stairs that reminds me of the better parts of Out of Sight (George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez). By this time, what few laughs I found were overwhelmed by a considerable amount of gross ignorance that preceded, and while I was trying to care what happened, I could not.
The hambone jiving style is worse in the movie than it was in the trailer and I did not think that was possible. There is gratuitous use of the words bitch and n----- and innumerable insults to African-Americans and Latinos. Just like calling African-American men "boys" is out, so should comedies based upon crude racial and ethnic humor. A joke or statement here and there may be appropriate in the right context but when it's the basis for the entire film, the movie is repulsive rather than funny.
Orlando Jones has the potential to carry a full 2-hour film. However, this ain't it. Take his bucking Sambo eyes, the references to Colt 45 Malt Liquor and dialogue regarding the trucks from Mother's Cookies, Fiji Water and Pepsi, and you can draw no other conclusion than that the writers, director, and studio executives think the audience for this film is stupid.
For anyone who thought Spike Lee's film Bamboozled overstated the case and was too satirical, take a second look. Some films are a waste of time and money. This one is both, plus it makes me mad!
PG-13 (violence; language)
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George O. Singleton © 2001
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Mini Filmography
Orlando Jones: Bedazzled
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Eddie Griffin: Armageddon
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Vivica A. Fox: Why Do Fools Fall in Love
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Garcelle Beauvais: Wild Wild West
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Benny Nieves: The Devil's Advocate
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Gary Grubbs: The Astronaut's Wife
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George Gallo: See Spot Run
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