`blue streak' , martin lawrence's newest outing and first appearance without a big name star by his side ( life , bad boys ) , may be cliched and formulaic , but it entertains , none the less . however , be warned that if you're not a martin lawrence fan you should stay far away from this film , as it is carried almost entirely by his comic antics . the story opens with a gang of high-tech thieves led by miles logan breaking into what appears to be a jewelry store . the robbery has just been completed , when one of the gang pulls a double cross and accidentally alerts the police . miles manages to secure the stolen gem in an air duct of an uncompleted building before the police catch him . two years later , released from prison , miles goes back to recover his prize only to discover that the building is now a police station . what is the most obvious solution ? why , to disguise himself as a cop and join the ranks of course . as a by-the-numbers piece of film making , it is fairly easy to guess the outcome of this movie from the start , though i won't reveal it here . in fact , the only things that truly make this worth seeing are the performances by martin lawrence and luke wilson as his likable , yet incredibly naive partner . lawrence's talent stems mainly from his exaggerated speech and facial expressions , and he puts this talent to good use here . just watch his expressions in a scene in which a dozen or so cops have cornered him and are asking what his opinion is about some new piece of police equipment . unfortunately , there are some rather large problems with this movie in addition to the predictable script . first , there are several utterly pointless characters such as melissa green , a defense attorney who appears in only three or four scenes , and is apparently present only so the audience can dislike her . the film's largest annoyance comes from tulley , who is a friend of logan's from the jewel heist . chappelle has such a whiny , obnoxious voice that i saw several people in the audience cringing whenever he spoke . despite these problems , the movie is a lot of fun , and lawrence is clearly having the time of his life making it . i simply hope that next time he finds a more original script to house his rather considerable comic talent . for delivering a lot of chuckles and a few belly laughs , i give `blue streak' three and a half stars and a recommendation to try and catch a matinee . * * * * * - one of the greatest movies ever made , see it now . * * * * - great flick . try and catch this one . * * * - okay movie , hits and misses . * * - pretty bad . see it if you've got nothing better to do . * - one of the worst movies ever . see it only if you enjoy pain . e-mail with comments at : <a href= " mailto : jabii@aol . com " >jabii@aol . com</a> 
