Keeping things safe: Martin Lawrence stars in a ridiculous 'buddy-cop-comedy'

By DANTE A. CIAMPAGLIASenior Staff Writer

published: Thu, 23 Jan, 2003

National Security
Starring Martin Lawrence, Steve Zahn and Eric Roberts
Directed by Dennis Dugan

"National Security" is the latest entry into the buddy-cop-comedy genre, which is rife with many tries and few successes. These films either end up failing miserably, like "Showtime," or can be somewhat decent, like "Shanghai Noon."

"National Security" exists somewhere in between those two poles, thanks mostly to the talents of the "buddies," Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn.

Hank (Zahn) is a Los Angeles cop. Earl (Lawrence) is a police academy reject. After his partner's funeral, Hank sees Earl reaching into a car for the keys and assumes a carjacking is occurring. Hank tries to get to the bottom of what's happening, but thanks to a healthy dose of racism from Earl, misunderstanding, a bumblebee and a bystander with a video camera, Hank gets tossed off the force and into a six-month stint in prison for what appears to be police brutality.

When he gets out of the clink, the only job Hank can get is as a security guard at National Security where, surprise, Earl is also employed. The two become involved in a technology theft ring, complete with dirty cops and the villainous Eric Roberts, and have to work together, of course, to stop the bumbling criminals.

The plot is by no means original, though there are funny moments peppered throughout the film. One such moment occurs when Earl and Hank are trying to hotwire a van that's in the back of a big rig. They don't know that the truck has just jackknifed on a bridge, so when they finally get the van going, they crash out the back, off the bridge and onto a garbage barge. This happens instead of the "buddies" getting out of the truck in the van but into speeding, oncoming traffic then getting involved in a smash-em-up, high speed chase with the big rig. The way the situation is handled in "National Security" is a refreshing, and funny, change of pace.

Ultimately, it's the chemistry between Lawrence and Zahn that makes the film work. Even though it's his shtick, Lawrence's race-based comedy gets real annoying, real fast. But the payoff to these jokes is the clueless and bewildered reactions they coax out of Zahn.

Any actor can emote anger and irritation when a character like Lawrence's stokes the fires of race for no real reason. It takes a better actor to show his character take it and contain it to the point that even the slightest movement of the mouth is a struggle because something might be said and taken the wrong way to make things worse. Zahn accomplishes this when paired up with Lawrence and the results are very funny.

"National Security" is a film everyone has seen before, many times. But the talents of Lawrence and Zahn make it better than it should be. Both are gifted comedians and their abilities shine through the retread film they appear in.