Jamie Foxx comes forth with another dumbass comedy, but at least in this one he pretends that he can possibly portray a respectable person. Trapped in a tiny town full of rednecks, Michael (Foxx) tries to recover from his fiancee (Nia Long, whose talent was even more wasted than it was in Big Momma's House) leaving him just after his beloved car was stolen, when he finds himself stuck in the middle of a botched robbery.
Yes, this is your stereotypical hick town. They have to have a tremendously fat guy (remember Billy Bob from Varsity Blues?), the police force winds up running around in their boxer shorts, and the sheriff seems to care more about the local sporting events than he does about saving the hostages in the gas station.
This movie may not have been so awful had it not been for the fact that the writers were clearly trying to grab for laughs every second of the way, while ignoring the necessary elements (even in a slapstick comedy) of reality and credibility. (spoilers) The robbers become likeable, so of course the film has to have a happy ending. That's fine, but what happened? They got on the bus, rode off into the sunset, and evidently the idiot police force went back to their baseball game, because they ignored the fact that the attempted robbers just drove away. `Oh well, let's just all go home!' Even country police forces aren't that stupid.
Held Up is slow paced, it's often boring, and it takes a serious situation and tries to get stupid laughs by making ridiculous efforts to make it all funny. It tries to force a smile on unhappy material, and was therefore doomed from the beginning. Hardcore Jamie Foxx fans may enjoy his cornball antics in this movie, but anyone looking for even the smallest hint of quality in their cinematic entertainment would be best advised to ignore this garbage.
Yes, this is your stereotypical hick town. They have to have a tremendously fat guy (remember Billy Bob from Varsity Blues?), the police force winds up running around in their boxer shorts, and the sheriff seems to care more about the local sporting events than he does about saving the hostages in the gas station.
This movie may not have been so awful had it not been for the fact that the writers were clearly trying to grab for laughs every second of the way, while ignoring the necessary elements (even in a slapstick comedy) of reality and credibility. (spoilers) The robbers become likeable, so of course the film has to have a happy ending. That's fine, but what happened? They got on the bus, rode off into the sunset, and evidently the idiot police force went back to their baseball game, because they ignored the fact that the attempted robbers just drove away. `Oh well, let's just all go home!' Even country police forces aren't that stupid.
Held Up is slow paced, it's often boring, and it takes a serious situation and tries to get stupid laughs by making ridiculous efforts to make it all funny. It tries to force a smile on unhappy material, and was therefore doomed from the beginning. Hardcore Jamie Foxx fans may enjoy his cornball antics in this movie, but anyone looking for even the smallest hint of quality in their cinematic entertainment would be best advised to ignore this garbage.