DVD Movie Rating for: National Security

Rating 3 out 5 stars

Movie Plot of: National Security

Earl and Hank have only one thing in common: they're both L.A.P.D. rejects. One just got kicked out, the other can't even get in. After confronting each other on opposite sides of the law during a traffic stop that escalates out of control, these two luckless individuals end up partnered as lowly security guards. Despite being damned to the lowest rung of the law enforcement ladder, Earl and Hank uncover a sophisticated smuggling operation led by Nash and his band of thugs. When Earl and Hank get their hands on some hot property, they go on the run from, first the bad guys, then the L.A.P.D.--led by Lt. Washington and Detective McDuff. What these two unlikely partners do to law enforcement is a crime, but they just might save the day. That is, if they don't kill each other first.

DVD Production Details of: National Security

Starring: Martin Lawrence, Steve Zahn

Director: Dennis Dugan

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Studio: Columbia Tristar Hom

DVD Release Date: October 7, 2003
DVD Features:
Commentary by director Dennis Dugan

Theatrical trailer(s)

Alternate ending

Deleted scenes

Music video

Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

DVD Easter Eggs

None

Cast of the movie: National Security

• Martin Lawrence .... Earl Montgomery
• Steve Zahn .... Hank Rafferty
• Colm Feore .... Detective Frank McDuff
• Bill Duke .... Lieutenant Washington
• Eric Roberts .... Nash
• Timothy Busfield .... Charlie Reed
• Robinne Lee .... Denise
• Matt McCoy .... Robert Barton
• Brett Cullen .... Heston
• Cleo King .... Woman in Car
• Gerry Del Sol .... Booking Clerk
• Ken Lerner .... Hank's Lawyer
• Mari Morrow .... Lola
• Stephen Tobolowsky .... Billy Narthax
• Joe Flaherty .... Owen Fergus
• Keith Cooke .... Ang
• Mike Brady .... Smith
• Troy Gilbert .... Cain
• Anthony G. Schmidt .... Eddie (as Anthony Schmidt)
• Joe Bucaro III .... Bratton (as Joe Bucaro)
• Carl Ciarfalio .... Stanton
• Bobby McLaughlin .... Ashcroft
• Robert Harvey .... Cop at Impound Yard
• John Henry Binder .... Cop at Impound Yard
• Margaret Travolta .... Judge
• Wayne Morse .... Bailiff
• Terry Logan .... LAPD Cop
• Mark Lonow .... Detective at Interrogation
• Jeffrey Ross .... Security Guard
• Jocko Marcellino .... Sarcastic Cop
• Jonathan Loughran .... Sarcastic Cop
• Noel Gugliemi .... Latino Convict (as Noel Guglielmi)
• Hiep Thi Le .... McDuff's Secretary
• Leslie Jones .... Trucker Woman
• Dawn Lewis .... Woman at Impound Yard
• Jackie Flynn .... Guard in Solitary
• Hal Fishman .... Himself
• Andy Dugan .... Student Driver
• Mickey Gilbert .... Driving Instructor
• Richardson Morse .... Detective
• Ben Hernandez .... Detective
• Tom Forrest .... Obnoxious Guy
• Amy Aquino .... Councilwoman
• Amanda Van Roberts .... Rich Lady
• Mike Grasso .... Training Cop
• Bruce Franklin .... Training Facility Officer
• Daniel Sudick .... Training Facility Officer (as Dan Sudick)
• Maia Danziger .... Jaguar Lady
• Greg Serano .... Carjacker
• Kevin Beard .... Taylor (uncredited)
• Joseph J. Dawson .... LAPD Officer (uncredited)
• Martin Klebba .... Security Guard (uncredited)

Photo Gallery of the movie: National Security

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size, high resolution photographs

Martin Lawrence in National Security

Reviews of the movie: National Security

Although it's enjoyable as a brainless diversion, National Security is one of those forgettable entertainments that denies its own considerable potential. It's a police action comedy in the mold of Beverly Hills Cop, tailored to the buddy-flick formula and laced with racial tensions of the post-Rodney King era. It's set in Los Angeles, where dedicated cop Hank (Steve Zahn) does jail time for allegedly beating Earl (Martin Lawrence), whose only real assailant was an overzealous bumblebee. As fate and lazy screenwriting would have it, the two adversaries reunite as security guards, teaming up to crack a team of violent smugglers led by bleached-blonde Eric Roberts (further proof that this movie's got nothing new to offer). Routine stunts distract from the comedy's mostly untapped resource: Lawrence pointedly riffs on racial profiling, and his prolific ad-libs play well against Zahn's by-the-book straight man. If their partnership had been allowed to develop more believably, National Security might have been more than a blip on the box-office radar.

Yet another Martin Lawrence turkey (is there any other kind?)...
National Security

Wrapped up in the intense pursuit of trying to find his partner's killers, LAPD officer Hank (Steve Zahn, `Saving Silverman') has found himself out of a job, and busted down to working at a local security company. Earl (Martin Lawrence) is one of his co-workers, and also responsible for Hank losing his badge. Hank is determined to continue his investigation of the murder, so Hank and Earl reluctantly team up to catch the killers, leading them on chase after chase through Los Angeles, with the cops, bad guys, and their own distaste for each other nipping at their heels.

I think I've gone about as far as I can go in detailing the horrors of watching Martin Lawrence continue to ignore his comedic gifts in the pursuit of large paydays and top billing. `National Security' only adds more fuel to that fire, underscoring yet again just how careless Lawrence is at picking his projects. Coming after his stellar concert film, `Runteldat,' which showcased a Lawrence who was fresh and funny, `National Security' brings back the old Lawrence, a seriously needy, humorless performer who's lost all tact in the pursuit of a laugh. In this new film, Lawrence trots out his usual grab bag of cold fish improvs, and dreadful, soul-flattening racial comedy. Imagining himself as a modern Richard Pryor, Lawrence's constant badgering of Caucasians (seemingly every other comment out of his mouth) just reeks of a desperate man trying to get desperate laughs. It's made all the worse by the two scenes where Lawrence actually scores with a joke, and does so in a relaxed, unforced manner. The lackluster pairing up with Steve Zahn (a severe irritant in his own right) doesn't matter, as the two strive for magic along the lines of Murphy and Nolte, Gibson and Glover, but seem more like oil and water.

Of course, a film like `National Security' doesn't rest entirely on Lawrence's shoulders. Director Dennis Dugan, a mild-mannered, diminutive 56 year-old former actor, is probably the last man on Earth to direct an action comedy like this. He gives it the old college try, but his careful cribbing from the films of John Woo, John Landis, Richard Donner, and Walter Hill only reinforces the fact that a restraining order should've been enforced between Dugan and the camera. He's has some minor success with comedies like `Happy Gilmore' and `Beverly Hills Ninja,' but that type of filmmaking doesn't prepare you for `Security's' mindless gunfire, explosions, car chases, and two leads that have no chemistry. Dugan piles on the shattering glass and endless shoot-outs just to keep the crowds happy, but never once was I convinced that he knew what he was doing. If they must make this type of comedy, the studio should've given it to a younger, MTV reject. At least then there would be an excuse for absurd moments such as a gun fight staged in a Coca-Cola factory, or takes where we actually see Lawrence pause mid-sentence to think of a joke.

As tired as the picture is, it does move extremely fast, toward a climax as improbable as almost every scene that's preceded it. I could swallow most of `National Security,' had it been the least bit funny. But it isn't, and won't, offer any thrill or giggle for your buck