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Martin Lawrence threatens ‘National Security’

By Jon Niccum - | Jan 17, 2003

Actor Martin Lawrence brings a lot of energy to a movie … to every miserable, worthless movie in which he stars.

Now comes “National Security,” a buddy-cop flick/low-brow comedy in which Lawrence employs all his patented screen tricks. One can’t accuse the guy of casually waltzing through this formula picture in order to pick up another paycheck; he’s certainly nowhere as lazy as Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler (“Punch-Drunk Love” an exception). But you can accuse the manic comic of incessant mugging, eye-rolling, leering at women, and, whenever possible, race-baiting.

About four out of every five jokes in “National Security” involve some ethnic reference. One assumes that’s to be expected from a screenplay that uses the Rodney King beating as a springboard for a wacky comedy.

Lawrence stars as Earl Montgomery, an arrogant hotshot who’s in the midst of training at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

“I wanted to be a cop every since watching ‘Quincy’ every week on TV,” Earl says.

He’s informed, “Quincy was a medical examiner.”

“I guess in the projects we didn’t get real good reception,” he replies.

When Earl’s destructive methods lead to his expulsion, he decides to take out his anger on a uniformed cop who happens across him. As Earl is scolding officer Hank (Steve Zahn), they are attacked by a bee – an insect to which Earl is highly allergic. While the two men are arguing, a nightstick is swatted about, and there is much screaming and commotion.

Of course, the whole incident is caught on videotape by an onlooker, and Hank is sent to trial, accused of attacking the victim (whose swollen face is the result of being stung rather than assaulted). Thanks to Earl’s false testimony, Hank is kicked off the police force and sent to prison.

Ultimately, he is released and joins a private security firm. There his path crosses with Earl again, much to each other’s distaste. But a common enemy (a group of larcenous thugs who likely killed Hank’s former partner) forces the hostile pair to work together.

There’s a scene in “National Security” where the two guards hot-wire a van that’s stored inside a moving semi-truck. As they put the vehicle into gear and smash out, they just happen to be traveling over a bridge. The van plummets into the ocean, where its fall is broken by a passing garbage barge.

This scene is emblematic of the entire plot, in that the movie is relentlessly exploiting action mayhem then hoping that filthy humor will somehow bail it out.

This is a movie where:

o The heroes run through a tunnel pursued by a fireball explosion, then jump to avoid it at the last possible second.

o The “surprise” villain is obvious from the first second he is on-screen.

o A blaring shootout takes place in a warehouse that looks like a Coke/Sprite product-placement factory.

o Lawrence hits on every female in sight (mostly gorgeous models posing as “real people”), and they all stupefyingly respond to his advances.

o The star finds an excuse for his pants to come off so that other characters can talk about the healthy size of his goods.

Lawrence is accustomed to debasing himself in movies, but what about poor Zahn? The feisty actor, who exhibited so much talent in “Happy, Texas” and “Out of Sight,” has recently released two of the worst efforts of his career: this latest fiasco and “Saving Silverman,” both directed by Dennis Dugan.

Note to Zahn: Stop returning Dugan’s phone calls.

Despite this sorry script, Zahn still manages to extract a few laughs from his frequent humiliations. Most of these come from reaction shots of the flat-topped cop’s frustration with Lawrence’s character.

Unfortunately, all the audience sympathy lies with Zahn, and he’s just the sidekick. It’s impossible to like or respect Lawrence, who is ostensibly the film’s lead. His Earl is an egocentric, racist, misogynist jerk-wad. It’s hardly endearing to the viewer that he fails to comprehend why sending an innocent man to prison is wrong.

With Martin Lawrence at the center of a movie, who really needs any villains?