This isn't intended to be a thought-provoking artistic masterpiece, but understandably most reviewers on IMDb are the types who try to look for sophistication in a film and as such, I believe, can't simply enjoy the simply absurd humor in a film such as this. Comparing IMDb reviews for comedies, you'll find The Great Dictator (extremely slow even by Chaplain's standards) at the top and more direct slapstick like The Three Stooges much further down the list. Simply put, most reviewers prefer irony over the kind of things you might joke about with some friends.That said, once I got into this film, I couldn't stop laughing from all the little unlikely absurdities. It doesn't seem to try too hard to set up the comedy like, say, Club Dread. Instead, it is a pure and simple fun movie with a not-too-quirky cast thrown together in a restricted setting. This setup can be movie gold as in The Breakfast Club, but never strives for greatness and instead settles for a loosely thrown together stream of small-town comedy perfect for when you just need to laugh at practically nothing.

"Held Up" is one of the those feel good comedic movies that doesn't require a whole lot of thought. "Held Up" is an enjoyable comedy that played like a comedy of errors. Jamie Foxx is a comedian that almost matches the comedic level of someone like Chris Rock. This was the perfect match for Foxx and the movie because I don't think "Held Up" could have been made without him. I enjoyed how Foxx mixed the comedy with scenes of drama. It gave a nice balance to a light-hearted and good natured film. Everyone played a comedic part in this film from Barry Corbin to Nia Long and Jake Busey. "Held Up" is just good fun.

I love this film. I have always thought that Jamie Foxx was talented, but never really cared for many of his movies. However, in "Held Up" he and the rest of the talented cast are just terrific. The story is well written and the dialog is very clever. The film revolves around a stick-up that goes comedically bad. With so many bad comedies floating around out there, this was truly a breath of fresh air. I am not sure where all the knocks on this film are coming from. This movie is fun and with an IQ. Perhaps people wanted a more "dumb" comedy, too bad. This movie is clever and very enjoyable. Rent it!

HELD UP / (2000) * (out of four)You have to be pretty stupid to cast Jamie Foxx in a leading role. He is not a strong actor, if you can call him an actor at all. He can't hold our attention for five minutes, let alone 89 minutes. Give him an insipid, unfunny script, provide a production crew who would turn a Canadian location into an Arizona desert, add the creators of "I Know What You Did Last Summer," and you get an experience that makes a Chinese torture chamber look like fun.Any one of those things is enough to trash a good movie, but "Held Up" uses all of them. Not only do we get unconvincing sets, throwaway jokes, sleep-inducing dialogue, horrendous performances, and pitiful direction, but we also have to endue them without variety. "Held Up" takes place during a dry, uninspiring day at a gas station in the middle of an Arizona desert. There aren't any neat editing techniques, innovative camera work, or eye-popping visual effects to inspire our imaginations or catch our attention. This movie is boring from the word go.You're probably wondering how the majority of a movie can take place at a gas station set in the middle of a desert. That's a very good question. An even better question: why would anyone want to see something like that. These producers obviously thought such material would interest $15 million worth of an audience. They were wrong. According to box office records, the film only earned half its money back, proving just how interesting people found this concept."Held Up" even wastes the talents of Nia Long. She is a fine actress. In the press notes, she speaks highly of these filmmakers and actors. Unfortunately, actions speak louder than words. Her performance suggests she wants out of the project altogether. Probably because of the pay check and very strong self control, she bares with the painstaking agony.Long plays Rae, the fiancee of a Chicago businessman named Michael (Jamie Foxx). The movie opens as the two argue and fight as they drive down the empty roads of Arizona in Michael's recently purchased piece-of-crap car. We spend the first ten minutes wondering what a beautiful woman would see in such a loser of a man. A few minutes later, she leaves him. GO GIRL!!!I think we are supposed to become all hung up on whether Rae and Michael will get back together, but we don't really want them back together. Actually, we don't want any woman, or man for that matter, to endure a relationship with Michael. He is an annoying loudmouth. When a clan of stupid foreign criminals put Michael and other miscellaneous characters in the middle of a hostage situation, we actually want those gun-wielding robbers to pop him a good one.The movie just gets dumber and dumber. The plot sinks to a new form of monotony. The only things keeping us awake is the work by one or two of the supporting actors, and I admittedly enjoyed a few scenes here and there. But overall "Held Up" is boring, trite, and desperately unfunny hokum. Jamie Foxx creates a stench so tremendously putrid he ruins almost every scene that features him.I suppose you could laugh at this. You would have to be drunk out of your mind and be a huge fan of Foxx-but if you are drunk, you would probably fall asleep during this movie. Actually, writing about it is forcing me to remember certain scenes in the movie that were so incredibly boring that…Zzzzzzz. Zzzzzzz. Zzzzzzz.