Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat

Martin Lawrence proves his brazenly raunchy standup routine can still go 12 rounds in this often entertaining, if obscenity-laced, concert film. Best of all, on video, fans of Lawrence's comedy can fast forward through several patches of disingenuous mea culpa sermons about all the trouble he's been through in the last few years. Even so, Lawrence still makes a lot of solid jokes at his own expense--about his former drug use, public displays of disorientation resulting in arrests ("They trying to say I had a gun!...OK, I had a gun."), and his hospital stay and rehabilitation after collapsing while jogging on an extremely hot day in 1999. But he doesn't get through the comedy without weighing down his one-liners with incongruous serious moments that smack more of sympathy-applause showmanship than of sincerity. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include commentary by director David Raynr, producer Michael Hubbard and executive producer Robert Lawrence; a 14-minute “Backstage Pass” behind-the-scenes featurette; the five-minute deleted scene “Boxing”; and a trailer. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a hit-and-miss film.] (R. Blackwelder)