I always felt that the problem with Martin Lawrence movies is that the scripts always limit all of the raunchiness and outrageous humor that makes Martin Lawrence funny. Bad Boys I is probably the only movie that parallels the comic potential that you can find in Lawrence's stand-up acts. Otherwise, the moviegoer will only see a fraction of the comedian's talent.
I walked into the theater expecting to see another terrible Martin Lawrence movie, but I was surprised that this film was somewhat enjoyable. Being rated PG, Rebound checks Lawrence's ability to offend through his usual graphic language, but Lawrence actually shows that he can be funny and gentle at the same time, relying on easygoing charm and witty dialogue to appease the audience. One of the prime examples of this is a scene where he is teaching a kid not to be a ball hog on the court. He makes his point in a way that is charming, smart, and funny. Another scene is where Lawrence plays a secondary character, a street preacher who gives the middle schoolers a pep talk before a big game. A similar scene was used in Blue Streak, but unlike in that movie, this scene works, mainly because the audience gets to see an unsuspecting, straight-laced Martin react to a more sketchier version of himself. It's a clever device that is guaranteed to generate some laughter. So why did I give this movie only five stars? The problem falls mainly with Rebound's poorly-written script.
Martin Lawrence stars as a once great college basketball coach, whose short temper causes him to be kicked out of the league. In order to redeem himself, he takes up a coaching job at his old middle school to prove to the NCBA that he is not only as good of a coach as he was in his prime but a charitable one as well. The school's team is a group of misfits that can never seem to score a single basket in any of the games they play. Will Lawrence bring the team to victory? While the premise is promising, the delivery is weak and lacking substance. Lawrence is supposed to be a Bobby Knight-type coach and seeing him throw tantrums in the Martin Lawrence style we all know and love would have been hilarious to see. But the problem is that we rarely see Lawrence carry this angry persona. In fact, his so-called emotional outburst appears accidental when he kicks a ball at the opposing team's mascot. Is this reason enough to expel him from the league? Aside from this err in the plot, the rest of the movie feels a bit rushed. Every time a scene begins to ascend in humor, it abruptly ends and goes onto another scene. As a result, Lawrence wins the trust of the middle schoolers too quickly, he brings the underdogs onto a winning streak too quickly, he decides that he loves coaching middle school too quickly. Plus, Lawrence wins the heart of one of the kid's mother ALL TOO QUICKLY! Better pacing along with a couple of twists would have made for a better film.
Aside from Lawrence's strong performance, Rebound's young cast delivers as well. The chemistry between Lawrence and the kids is great, and their characters are well-developed. However, the rest of the adult cast feels wasted. Patrick Warburton puts in a lot of energy in his performance but he doesn't have anyone to play off. Megan Mullally is hilarious as the sarcastic school principal but she seems to vanish halfway through the film. I felt that Rebound would have benefited from more interplay between her and Lawrence. Seeing these two wacky comedians bump heads would have been fun to see. Breckin Meyer does a decent job as Coach Roy's shrewd agent, but you get the feeling that he probably has something better to do. Wendy Raquel Robinson is a suitable love interest for Martin and does her job well. But as stated before, her character falls for Martin a little too fast to be truly believable. Sadly, Horatio Sanz is given very little to do.
Overall, this movie was decent and provided some great insights on learning to work with others cooperatively despite personal differences. Everything else feels a bit forced and redundant. Martin Lawrence proves that he has a superb screen presence and broad comic appeal but it will take more than this poorly written piece for him to rebound and get back into the game.
I walked into the theater expecting to see another terrible Martin Lawrence movie, but I was surprised that this film was somewhat enjoyable. Being rated PG, Rebound checks Lawrence's ability to offend through his usual graphic language, but Lawrence actually shows that he can be funny and gentle at the same time, relying on easygoing charm and witty dialogue to appease the audience. One of the prime examples of this is a scene where he is teaching a kid not to be a ball hog on the court. He makes his point in a way that is charming, smart, and funny. Another scene is where Lawrence plays a secondary character, a street preacher who gives the middle schoolers a pep talk before a big game. A similar scene was used in Blue Streak, but unlike in that movie, this scene works, mainly because the audience gets to see an unsuspecting, straight-laced Martin react to a more sketchier version of himself. It's a clever device that is guaranteed to generate some laughter. So why did I give this movie only five stars? The problem falls mainly with Rebound's poorly-written script.
Martin Lawrence stars as a once great college basketball coach, whose short temper causes him to be kicked out of the league. In order to redeem himself, he takes up a coaching job at his old middle school to prove to the NCBA that he is not only as good of a coach as he was in his prime but a charitable one as well. The school's team is a group of misfits that can never seem to score a single basket in any of the games they play. Will Lawrence bring the team to victory? While the premise is promising, the delivery is weak and lacking substance. Lawrence is supposed to be a Bobby Knight-type coach and seeing him throw tantrums in the Martin Lawrence style we all know and love would have been hilarious to see. But the problem is that we rarely see Lawrence carry this angry persona. In fact, his so-called emotional outburst appears accidental when he kicks a ball at the opposing team's mascot. Is this reason enough to expel him from the league? Aside from this err in the plot, the rest of the movie feels a bit rushed. Every time a scene begins to ascend in humor, it abruptly ends and goes onto another scene. As a result, Lawrence wins the trust of the middle schoolers too quickly, he brings the underdogs onto a winning streak too quickly, he decides that he loves coaching middle school too quickly. Plus, Lawrence wins the heart of one of the kid's mother ALL TOO QUICKLY! Better pacing along with a couple of twists would have made for a better film.
Aside from Lawrence's strong performance, Rebound's young cast delivers as well. The chemistry between Lawrence and the kids is great, and their characters are well-developed. However, the rest of the adult cast feels wasted. Patrick Warburton puts in a lot of energy in his performance but he doesn't have anyone to play off. Megan Mullally is hilarious as the sarcastic school principal but she seems to vanish halfway through the film. I felt that Rebound would have benefited from more interplay between her and Lawrence. Seeing these two wacky comedians bump heads would have been fun to see. Breckin Meyer does a decent job as Coach Roy's shrewd agent, but you get the feeling that he probably has something better to do. Wendy Raquel Robinson is a suitable love interest for Martin and does her job well. But as stated before, her character falls for Martin a little too fast to be truly believable. Sadly, Horatio Sanz is given very little to do.
Overall, this movie was decent and provided some great insights on learning to work with others cooperatively despite personal differences. Everything else feels a bit forced and redundant. Martin Lawrence proves that he has a superb screen presence and broad comic appeal but it will take more than this poorly written piece for him to rebound and get back into the game.