In short, it was the worst comedy I watched within last three years. Now, to be honest, I am not a native speaker (as you can easily guess reading this review), so I watched it in Polish, so it could be that indeed in original there were some funny bits. It may be also that there is, as some people say, chemistry in original. But it was all lost in the translation. It all feel fake, terribly boring, with few bits thrown it to justify calling this... thing... a comedy.But I do not think it all can be blamed on translation. I've watched dozens of French, English, Russian, Czech and even Chinese comedies and I laughed. Here... I just kept looking at the watch to see how much it is left.Awful. Toxic. Avoid it.

Top Five is written, directed and stars Chris Rock as Andre Allen. It is a one note idea where he plays a stand up comic, a former drunk who has had box office success with some silly comedy films. He is due to get married to a high profile reality television star and promoting a serious film about Haitian rebels which is heading for flopsville.Allen accepts an interview with the New York Times, Rosario Dawson who plays the junior reporter and they walk and talk about his career from his early hell raising days to the present. It is not helped that the Times main entertainment correspondent hates Allen's movies with a passion.The fact that Rock plays a character called Andre Allen and it seems semi autobiographical brings to mind Woody Allen. Maybe this is Rock's attempt to do Stardust Memories or Annie Hall mixed with Before Midnight as Dawson and Rock just converse and get on well with each other.I just found the film dragged, uneven in tone and not too funny although I did smirk at a few places. There are some star cameos nearer the end of the film as Rock ropes in some old pals.Even when Rock does some stand up at the end of the film, it is made to look so unnatural that you think that Rock should had got someone else in who is more competent to direct this. It is messy and self indulgent which relies too much on guttural humour when Rock hypocritically wants to pass himself off as an artiste.

Andre Allen (Chris Rock) is a standup comedian who became famous for a movie franchise character Hammy The Bear. He wants to stop playing Hammy and do serious roles. He tries to promote his historical drama about a Haitian revolutionary but people only want to talk about Hammy or his impending reality-TV wedding with Erica Long (Gabrielle Union). He reluctantly does an interview with New York Times reporter Chelsea Brown (Rosario Dawson) as she follows him for the day.There are some funny moments but in general, the characters feel fake. Chris Rock never really stopped being Chris Rock except when he dives into the drinking. Rosario Dawson is lovely but I don't believe her romantic chemistry with him. I rather she be his sponsor than his girlfriend. After she reconnects with him, she needs to bring him to a meeting rather than a comedy store. When Seinfeld, Sandler and Whoopi show up, it feels like the movie is trying too hard and not terribly funny. Andre's family is funnier. There is an interesting movie here but it takes a couple of wrong steps.

Clearly a personal project for writer/director/star Chris Rock, Top Five isn't quite a comedy and isn't quite a drama. It nestles snugly, firmly into the in-between, dispensing funny little slices of life alongside serious, self-searching notes about midlife insecurity and the desire to make something more of yourself. Rock basically plays himself, a longtime comedy superstar who worries that his silly wide-appeal earlier works have trapped him in a vicious cycle of self-loathing and alcoholism. His character is grounded and real, afraid to play anything for big laughs because the pressure to meet earlier comedy heights is so crippling. For the most part, it's the story of his swift rapport and burgeoning relationship with a tailing New York Times reporter (Rosario Dawson), which clicks on all cylinders. The two work so well together, it can be enjoyable just watching them interact over the inconsequential, and that's the real draw. Don't go in expecting riotous laughs; it's funny, but also sweet, and an effective stepping stone to broader subjects.