Earnest white-boy rapper bests bumbling ersatz kidnappers
Think Jerry Lewis doing Eminem, or maybe it's Eminem doing Jerry Lewis (or maybe it's Pauly Shore doing Vanilla Ice), and you've got B-Rad, Jamie Kennedy's rappin' rich-kid white boy of Malibu's Most Wanted.The unlikely hip-hop progeny of a buttoned-down politician running for the California governorship (and played with a straight face by Ryan O'Neal), B-Rad talks the talk, walks the walk, and raps the rap (rhymin' with a conviction that far outruns his diction). In the heart of "the 'Bu," he and his crew hang at the mall's coffee shop, strikin' poses and livin' phat (or non-phat, in the case of B-Rad's latte of choice).
Think Jerry Lewis doing Eminem, or maybe it's Eminem doing Jerry Lewis (or maybe it's Pauly Shore doing Vanilla Ice), and you've got B-Rad, Jamie Kennedy's rappin' rich-kid white boy of Malibu's Most Wanted.
The unlikely hip-hop progeny of a buttoned-down politician running for the California governorship (and played with a straight face by Ryan O'Neal), B-Rad talks the talk, walks the walk, and raps the rap (rhymin' with a conviction that far outruns his diction). In the heart of "the 'Bu," he and his crew hang at the mall's coffee shop, strikin' poses and livin' phat (or non-phat, in the case of B-Rad's latte of choice).
A Mad magazine-style parody that lampoons all ethnic, cultural and economic stripes (wealthy whites, gangsta blacks and Latinos, Korean shop owners, Buppies and Polo-wearing African American theater school grads), Malibu's Most Wanted has been directed in sitcomy fashion by John Whitesell. The pic deploys a fake kidnapping plot to take the millionaire's son off the beach and onto the streets - of South Central, where a pair of pretend thugs are supposed to scare B-Rad out of his "gangsta-phrenia" complex.
Taye Diggs and Anthony Anderson are the hired hams, and the irony of it all is that the two out-of-work black actors (one's Juilliard-trained) have less cred in the 'hood than the pampered poseur from the enclaves of celebrityhood.
Comedian Kennedy created B-Rad in the early '90s for his stand-up act, and he has a pretty good I'm-lame-but-I-believe-in-myself shtick going there. However, it doesn't last nearly as long as Malibu's Most Wanted's running time.
Contact movie critic Steven Rea at 215-854-5629 or srea@phillynews.com.
Malibu's Most Wanted ** (out of four stars)
Written by Fax Bahr, Adam Small, Jamie Kennedy and Nick Swardson, directed by John Whitesell. With Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs and Ryan O'Neal.
Running time: 1 hour, 20 mins.
Parent's guide: PG-13 (sexual humor, profanity, violence)
Playing at: area theaters