Let me say this first as it should be the first thing critiqued for a comedy: the humor here is good. This isn't all typical American family mainstream movie humor, there are some really good moments mostly in situational comedy. Just Oedekeker putting himself in the film alone is a hilarious thought but the useless character and attributed scene are just hilariously pointless, and therefor very meaningful to such a comedy. But that's a detail. It's actually got suspense, is strong structurally, and as most Oedekerk motion pictures (ahem...that don't have THUMB in the title...) this has meaning and is very humane. Globally, it's a great coming together of two radically antagonistic leads and, naturally, the characters they play, while the two villain characters that follow their symmetry is a funny concept - it's well written, funny, with a point and whether as a comedy or as a film with its own tension and developments, it's just a good, strong movie.

This one is a "I've had a rubbish day I'm gonna eat a worm" staple for me. Yes, it's funny, and yes, in an obvious, non-intellectual, loud and very American sort of way. Tim Robbins is a serious actor but in this he lets his hair down starring along side Martin Lawrence.Martin Lawrence churns these sorts of films out every five minutes, but when this movie was released, he was still riding reasonably high from Bad Boys two years prior. But, casting Robbins in this was a really strange move. He'd just directed Dead Man Walking, and was still fresh from that prison movie (to be fair, the audience this was aimed at, probably had only just seen Shawshank on video when this was released). And it's a really curious movie, not really funny, and it has a really depressing edge to it. Robbins is wonderful in his role, and just looks like he's having a lot of fun, doing this for some release from all the seriousness. There is an interesting twist at the end (all comes out in the wash scenario), with lots of comedy sketches in between. Overall, the mix between comedy and story is well balanced, will keep you laughing until the very last scene.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Nothing to Lose (1997): Dir: Steve Oedekerk / Cast: Tim Robbins, Martin Lawrence, Kelly Preston, John C. McGinley, Michael McKeen: Comedy that paints a picture of those who have no form of income. It also suggests major risk taking when we don't know the facts at hand. Tim Robbins visits his fiancée only to discover a couple in bed upstairs. He is so upset that when Martin Lawrence attempts to rob him he responds, "You picked the wrong guy at the wrong time." Eventually they put their differences aside and rob gas stations but Robbins really wants to rob his boss. There is also a meaningless subplot involving two other burglars. Very stupid once one realizes that the whole thing was a misunderstanding. Director Steve Oedekerk handles a few comic moments but this is about as stupid as his previous film Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Robbins and Lawrence are props with wasted supporting work by Kelly Preston and John C. McGinley. The Robbins characters in particular is a total idiot once one really examines his jump to conclusions decisions. This is also a routine comedy for Lawrence who certainly isn't branching out. Michael McKeen is also greatly reduced playing the boss who is suspected of the finger-pointing for which Robbins does. There is no reason to see this film since it employs little if any originality. Viewers have nothing to lose by avoiding it. Score: 2 / 10

The plot isn't even /structured right/. The ending makes /no sense/. It's /racist/. And bottom line, I'm still trying to figure out what Hollywood idiot still believes that crossing and then "breaking" Black and white stereotypes is funny. Not only have we seen this a million times, but it /never/ happens in real life, so it feels fake, and probably wouldn't happen this way either. But again, this one is particularly bad, because the story itself isn't even well-written or structured according to the traditional rules of film. It's just /horrible/.Look, Martin Lawrence's character is a /carjacker/. Do you /know/ any actual car jackers? They aren't poor misunderstood sorts with a heart of gold who've been driven to this by poverty. To bring yourself to jack someone's car, you're /really/ low. Tim Robbins's character sees his wife /screwing someone else/ and discovers, "oops, he was mistaken." Their relationship couldn't possibly have been as good as it turns out in the end if a) she didn't bother to look for him, just worry, and b) he decided to end it all once he found out (and what kind of self esteem is that?!). I mean, he doesn't even question her explanation! So you can't buy a single thing in this film. If they'd wanted to use a car jacker, make it funny by either having him driven to it by some absurd circumstance (make /Robbins/ the car jacker), or make him a /real/ car jacker, and make it a Black comedy. This is just some movie comedy crap that has been largely forgotten for a reason.