Double Take (2001)

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

(George Gallo) loves the buddy movie's formula, so am I. Whatever the genre of the movie he writes, crime, action, comedy, in most cases he masters making it through 2 guys, who their differences annoy each other, producing a running irony that proves nothing but the fact of the opposite attracts, or – most importantly – that 2 incomplete people separately may mean complete one together. (Wise Guys – 1986), (Midnight Run – 1988), (Trapped in Paradise – 1994) with a buddy divided into 2, (Bad Boys – 1995) which he wrote only its story, and (Double Take – 2001) are examples from (Gallo)'s career. According to that list it's clear that he loves the formula and he's good at it too.Although this round it sounds like a mix of (Midnight Run), with the insane talkative cop of (Bad Boys), let alone that there are many known-by-heart tricks (framing the good guy, chasing him, kidnapping the girl, dirty cops and the happy end), but eventually it managed to score high as original action comedy.The ironic differences between the 2 leads enjoyed me very, as one urbane sophisticated rich, and one vulgar wild street-hustler. The character of (Eddie Griffin) was fresh; it remained unpredictable in a lovely way. Switching characters was creative. And the dog touch was cute. The events were unpredictable too, especially the whole second act in the desert, and the couple of twists near the end. I liked moments like the dancing match between the 2 leads, and the last scene with the Bond's devise used wrongly. The action scenes have been done perfectly. The image was hot exactly like the pace. And it's wonderful to know that it's directed by the scriptwriter (Gallo) himself. It seems that he can be notable action director.I'm not fond of (Griffin), he's always loud with heavy profanity, and hence he made the matter of being "undercover brother" totally unconvincing (So how about turning into James Bond at the end as well ?!). Yet, I must admit, he – despite all of that – was relatively funny, and with vague, always surprising, character there was even more fun. I have always believed that (Orlando Jones) is whether underrated actor or the unluckiest of them all. He can play comedy, stealing the lights from everybody; as he did in (Evolution - 2001). And he can play the serious part, with mimicking its opposite finely, as in here. So why he isn't a star yet, cashing millions as Tom Cruse for low instance ?! It's your typical delicious sandwich, however from another restaurant. And the result is nearly the same ingredients, a bit different taste, with the same treat. Here's the professor of the course teaches us how to remake the same with new plot and different characters, and be fresh and entertaining; well, that's the craft's creativity. It just kills me that his next script, for the same formula, would be (The Whole Ten Yards – 2004), where he lost being entertaining rather bearable !

I really like Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin. Orlando Jones was hilarious in MAD TV, and Eddie Griffin has such character. The movie was at times a little wandering, but basically the two comic actors held it together. There was a lot of social commentary beneath the plot. First of all, there was both race and class. The movie showed through the differences in class between the two main characters, that they are treated very differently. One is a banker (Jones). While the other character (Griffin) appears to be a street hustler. The movie showed that the two could learn to get along with each other, despite their different personalities, and to find out the truth. The movie was pretty funny, but at the same time showed how racial/class politics really work with a pretty good degree of accuracy.

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.

(sigh) Double Team is another useless action comedy. This movie didn´t have a theatrical run in Finland and I don´t wonder. You can see one this kind of movies made straight to video. Orlando Jones has been much better in other movies. The movie wasn´t funny, except one scene. Total waste of time. (3 points out of 10, *½ out of *****)