Latifah gives Fallon a ride in ‘Taxi’

Blake Hinton / Reviewer

Queen Latifah is a great actress. She proved it when she stole the show in a little-known movie called “Living Out Loud.” Recently, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in “Chicago,” which she wholeheartedly deserved. Yet, right after that she had to do the very dumb film “Bringing Down The House.” And now she’s even in a worse film, if that is possible: “Taxi.” Ms. Latifah, what are you doing with your career?

The plot is basically another version of the buddy comedy that’s been done a thousand times before. Jimmy Fallon from “Saturday Night Live”  plays Officer Westbourne. When the film opens, he is having a particularly bad day. A bust he was running went sour, mainly because he’s an incompetent driver. For this, his driver’s license is taken away by his boss and former lover Lt. Robbins (Jennifer Esposito).

Therefore, when a bank robbery happens in town the only way to get there is to commandeer a taxi which is driven by none other than Belle (Queen Latifah). Belle wants to be a NASCAR driver and, therefore, has her taxi equipped with a lot things that make her taxi race at high speeds. They are off, and it’s up to Belle and Westbourne to catch the bank robbers who for some reason are all Brazilian and look like models.

When, oh, when will an SNL spin-off be made that is actually good? It can be done. “Wayne’s World” was and is still a great movie. Not that its humor was any smarter than some of the attempts made in “Taxi,” but at least it didn’t feel tired or flat. Also, it helped that the actors seemed to realize the joke, and, therefore had fun with it. Yet, after “Wayne’s World” came out, audiences have had one bad SNL movie after another from “The Ladies Man” to “Corky Romano.”

It’s not any different here. The problem is this film is simply not funny. The jokes have either been done before or are rather creepy. For example, in one scene Belle and Westbourne are trapped inside a room filled with laughing gas. There is no use for this scene aside to squeeze in a laugh. As if that wasn’t bad enough the extent of this humorous scene is simply them talking in really low voices. What’s sad is that this is the extent of most of the jokes. They are tired and boring.

Then there are the very creepy scenes with Westbourne’s mom. The joke with her is that she’s drunk all the time and she apparently terrorized Westbourne as a child. Any scene with her mainly consists of her slurring her words, stumbling and other drunken impediments. I couldn’t help but wonder why this was funny. It was mainly just weird and very uncomfortable at times, serving as just one more reason why this movie is not funny.

Yet, if there is a worst part that really cements this film as particularly bad it would have to be Jimmy Fallon. I’m a fan of Fallon on SNL, but on the movie screen he comes off as strained and a bit annoying at times. It doesn’t help that his character is an idiot and a loser.

Speaking of which, how is Westbourne even a cop? He can’t drive, and he’s a complete moron. Of course, this makes as much sense as high speed car chases in New York! Apparently, they are in a bizzaro world with no traffic. Fallon could have a career, but this film is a step down for him. He must be steaming knowing his SNL co-star Tina Fey knocked her first film, “Mean Girls,” out of the park.

Queen Latifah is OK, but watching the movie just makes you realize how much more talented she is than this film. The problem with this movie is everything. It’s not funny or exciting or anything. It’s just dumb. Maybe one day we’ll see a good SNL film.

Contact Blake Hinton at pendulum@elon.edu or 278-7247.

Photo courtesy of movies.com
Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon co-star in the latest “Saturday Night Live” buddy comedy “Taxi,” in theaters this week.