Blue Streak

In spite of his recent serious health malady, comedian Martin Lawrence has to be the luckiest guy in the world. Why? His new movie, Blue Streak, opened on the same day as For Love of the Game. For the most part, critics have been aiming their guns at the new Kevin Costner film. Blue Streak, on the other hand, must have stealth technology. It’s been flying low under the radar.

That’s not to say Blue Streak has merit. It doesn’t. The movie is nothing but a hybrid of the three Beverly Hills Cop flicks with Eddie Murphy. And as much as I enjoy his shtick, rubber-faced comic Martin Lawrence is a hybrid combination of Murphy and the late Flip Wilson.

Lawrence plays Miles Logan, a burglar who gets collared in a late night jewel heist. But before he’s apprehended, he cleverly tapes a $20 million diamond in the third floor air duct of a building construction site in Los Angeles.

Two years later, Miles is paroled. What a laugh! In Texas, he would have been given a minimum 20 year sentence for aggravated robbery. How do I know? I watch "Law and Order" on TV.

Much to his surprise, Miles finds out his girlfriend has given him the old heave-ho. When he returns to recover the hidden diamond, much to his dismay, he finds out that the building under construction has turned into a LAPD precinct facility.

In what has to be the greatest stretch of reality imaginable, Miles assumes the identity of a lead police detective in order to retrieve the diamond. Do any of you remember the first day of work, when you spent several hours filling out forms? Not Miles. Not in this movie.

Luke Wilson plays the goofy detective sidekick character previously played by Judge Reinhold, while William Forsythe assumes the John Ashton role as the supervisor. Each scene is a paint-by-the numbers routine that we’ve all seen before in other films. What keeps it all from collapsing is Martin Lawrence’s winning persona. I laughed several times at his over-the-top character, but can’t heartily recommend that you go out of your way to see Blue Streak.