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Black Sheep
"Howdy folks. John here with my review of the script for the action/comedy Black Sheep. The script is by Jason Richman and is dated January 2001. Shooting on the film is underway and approaching completion in New York City as this is written. The movie is a buddy cop story and stars the highly unlikely pairing of the silky smooth Anthony Hopkins and the generally loud Chris Rock. Believe it or not, the casting is right on the money.
Hopkins plays CIA agent Gaylord Oakes. He is paired with agent Kevin Pope, played by Rock. The two are working an undercover operation in Prague to recover a stolen nuclear bomb from the wrong hands. The opening scene is nicely put together with plenty of snappy dialogue seemingly custom made for Hopkins.
VAS:
I've always found the eyes to be the most reliable source when looking for the truth.OAKES:
Well, then, it's your lucky day. I just happened to bring them with me.
Unfortunately for this well matched pair of agents, things go badly and they find themselves running for their lives. Kevin ends up sacrificing himself to save his partner. Oakes returns to the US to confront his superiors on the failed mission. Desperate to avoid the suitcase sized nuke from ending up in the hands of terrorists they hatch a bizarre scheme to continue the mission without the lead man. Kevin and his twin brother were separated at birth. The two never knew of the existence of the other. Oakes heads to New York to find that twin and try and convince him to take up his late brother's cause.
Up until this point the movie has operated as a straight action movie. When Kevin's brother Jake enters the story it changes to a buddy cop movie. Unsurprisingly, Jake is the complete opposite of Kevin. He is brash, selfish and a wise ass. In other words, he's completely wrong for a carefully choreographed intelligence operation. None the less, Oakes offers him a great big pile of cash in exchange for his help. He then proceeds to try and train Jake to take care of himself and pass for his brother.
The script is generally well written. Action scenes are elaborate and carefully plotted. If filmed well these should prove quite a blast to watch. The biggest question hovering over this script is the chemistry between Oakes and Kevin. If Hopkins and Rock have good chemistry, this movie should be a lot of fun. It's a very similar relationship to that between Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in Men in Black. But the rest of the movie is more along the lines of Lethal Weapon. Now if the chemistry isn't there, this thing will just lie flat on the screen like a dead fish.
Complaints with the story are fairly minor. There are a few items that are brought up but never really followed up on like Jake's motivation for taking the mission in the first place. The script plays it up but never goes for the payoff. There is also a sequence that adds a love interest for Jake that provides a good excuse for a few jokes and some nudity but otherwise adds nothing to the storyline.
Hopkins gets the rare opportunity to work in comedy, although he mostly plays the straight man. Rock gets to do his usual schtick but will actually have to do some acting. When portraying Kevin, Rock will have to reign himself in completely. When playing Jake, he can just be himself.
Overall I was favorably impressed with the script. It should make for an entertaining film. The Lethal Weapon series may have crashed and burned but this script proves there is still some life left in the actual concept. Let's hope it all comes together well."
(Review submitted by 'John Shea.')
Stay tuned...
That's all folks...
Jean-François Allaire (aka DeadPool)
Questions, comments, praise etc. Email me at deadpool@tnmc.org
Jean-François Allaire is TNMC's first columnist. At only 24 years old he has become a respected entertainment journalist, with his columns appearing in Corona's Coming Attractions and Scr(i)pt magazine. He also writes a monthly column in Screenwriters Monthly entitled 'The Last Word.' Hailing from Montreal this young writer is determined to dig up all the details on the movies before they hit your local theater. If you're part of a movie production then you really need to be talking to him.
