Top Five

Chris Rock shows real maturity in his third film as writer/director by emphasising his sensitive side and courageously offering up his neuroses and dubious career choices for consideration and ridicule. He plays a successful but critically maligned actor, who's ashamed of his popular Hammy the Bear franchise and forthcoming wedding to a reality TV star, and so decides to reinvent himself with a film about the Haitian Revolution. Rosario Dawson co-stars as the journalist who challenges and gets close to him as he undergoes this epiphany. The result is a loose, talky comedy interspersed with flashes of Rock's raucous side that delivers on and subverts expectations. The outrageously enjoyable cameos (most memorably from Jerry Seinfeld and DMX) bolster its entertainment value, while Rock's return to stand-up generates more big laughs. However, the broad humour and delicate introspection don't always make for a happy marriage. There's nuance in the performances and bite in the script, but it could have done with a stronger hand behind the camera to blend it all together.