Double Take

Somewhere between The Fugitive, Bad Boys and Beverly Hills Cop lies the plot of this action-comedy that is, unfortunately, deadly short on both action and comedy. Orlando Jones ("make 7-Up yours!") stars as a posh Manhattan investment banker, who becomes a hunted man in an unnecessarily complex conspiracy of double-crossing FBI and CIA agents when he discovers a $1.6 million irregularity in the accounts of a Mexican soda pop company, accidentally exposing the company as a drug front. Because he's too stupid to ask questions of people who flash badges, he's on the run before long. As the straight man in this alleged comedy, Eddie Griffin (UPN's Malcolm and Eddie) keeps popping up doing his passé loud-mouthed ghetto shtick. Double Take had potential--even potential comedy--but writer-director George Gallo seems interested only in tiresome gags for lowest common denominator audiences and hellbent on defying common sense in order to advance the plot. Not recommended. (R. Blackwelder)