DOUBLE TAKE
US, 2001, 91 minutes, Colour.
Eddie Griffin, Orlando Jones, Gary Grubbs, Daniel Roebuck, Edward Herman.
Directed by George Gallo.
Double Take is a star vehicle for American comedian Eddie Griffin. He is an acquired taste – a combination of characteristics of Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor with his own zany and over-the-top style. By contrast, Orlando Jones, actor and writer, is able to play it straight – but, with the complications of the plot, has to imitate the Eddie Griffin style.
The surprise of this film is that it is based on a story by Graham Greene, Across the Bridge, which was filmed in the early 1960s with Rod Steiger.
While the serious aspects of the plot are still there: money laundering, drug dealing, the Mexican -American border, rogue FBI agents…, there is a lot of odd couple comedy, especially on a train, with Griffin and Jones. Edward Herman is the seemingly upright manager of the company who is in league with the money launderers.
American audiences may enjoy the comedy and repartee between the two actors, but it is sometimes very much in-your-face. Direction is by George Gallo, writer and director of slight comedies like Trapped in Paradise and My Mom’s New Boyfriend.
1.A star vehicle for Eddie Griffin? His screen personality? His comic touches? Impersonations? The contrast with Orlando Jones? Their each imitating the other’s character?
2.The New York settings, affluence, offices, the streets? The train ride? The contrast with Mexico, Texas? The musical score?
3.The introduction to Daryl Chase, the beginning of his day, wealthy, his business? The deposit in the bank? His suspicions? His briefcase being stolen, Freddie and the rescue, the set-up? Daryl and his pursuit? Finding Freddie in his office? The mystery? The agents, the shootouts, the death of his assistant? His being caught? Going on the run?
4.Freddie, streetwise, the fact that he was an FBI agent, keeping an eye on Daryl? The backup support with his partner? The train ride, their each taking the other’s character? The police and agents in pursuit? The treatment of the rich man when he was dressed as a poor man, inverted snobbery? Freddie and his patter?
5.The escape from the train, Freddie being pushed off? The dog? The importance of the dog for the case?
6.Daryl’s adventures in Texas, trying to get across the border, the shootout, his thinking that Macready was authentic? The phone calls? The reality of the drug deals? Charles Alsworth and his betrayal? Alsworth and Chloe coming to Mexico?
7.Freddie, on and off the train, continually tracking down Daryl?
8.Daryl’s arrest, trying to get the money from the Mexican police? Macready turning up, Daryl and his escape?
9.The house of the wealthy man, his setting up the whole situation, his money laundering, wanting to sell all the agents to the FBI for their betrayal? The talk, the explanations? The shootouts?
10.The happy ending, Daryl and what he had learnt from the experience? Freddie as an eccentric agent? Their girlfriends? The joke about the emergency squad arriving at the end?
