BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) HOUSE PARTY 2
Martin Lawrence’s first credited movie role was 1989’s “Do The Right Thing”. Since then he’s been consistently cranking out movies and the occasional stand up special. He’s don’t it all. While I recall him from “Do The Right Thing” now that I’ve seen it in recent years, I’m always associated him as being Kid and Play’s friend in House Party. THEN came Def Jam, his show, and everything else. House Party was great, iconic in fact… but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart of House Party 2. Why? Because it was the Jammy-Jam!
(THREE) WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS
This 2008 movie is pretty damn underrated. It’s actually a black family comedy NOT associated with Tyler Perry. So that definitely helps the odds for it. It ended up being really good. It reminded me a lot of “The Great Outdoors” minus the camping atmosphere. We get Martin, Mike Epps, Michael Clarke Duncan, Cedric the Entertainer, Mo’Nique before her Oscar pretentious-ness, and a slew of others. Seriously, this is WAY better than you’d think. If you have the time, give it to this movie.
(TWO) BAD BOYS
Will Smith plus Martin Lawrence with a dash of violence and a few giggles makes money. A lot of it. The movie made well over 100 million dollars, which in the mid 90’s made it a huge blockbuster. It’s a good buddy cop movie. The plot is predictable and lame. The whole thing is stereotypical fare. Never the less, you can put Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in an empty room and odds are they’ll be entertaining enough to at least get you through two hours. They did that here, but with lots of explosions.
(ONE) LIFE
Without a doubt, Martin Lawrence’s best movie is Life. Starring with Eddie Murphy, we get somewhat of a period piece in the form of a dramady. Two black men in the 1930’s get caught up in some nonsense and end up getting Life in jail. The movie then tells the story of the two men’s lives. It’s really really good. We cover tons of time, tons of stories, and characters. The support in the movie is awesome as well. We get Bernie Mac, Anthony Anderson, Rick James, and a slew of awesome people. The movie will make you laugh, it’ll make you cry, and it’ll make you smile. If you have two hours to spend with only one Martin Lawrence movie this is the one you want to watch.
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