Double Take (2001)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

George Gallo

Writers (WGA):

Graham Greene (story)
Guy Elmes (1957 screenplay Across the Bridge) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

One big shot. One big mouth. The switch is on.

Plot:

A man on the run takes another man's passport, only to find himself stuck with the identity of a street hustler.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Remake | Helicopter | Buddy Comedy | Shot In The Head

Cast

Orlando Jones	...	Daryl Chase
Eddie Griffin	...	Freddy Tiffany
Gary Grubbs	...	Timothy Jarret McReady
Daniel Roebuck	...	Agent Norville
Sterling Macer Jr.	...	Agent Gradney
Benny Nieves	...	Agent Martinez
Garcelle Beauvais	...	Chloe
Andrea Navedo	...	Maque Sanchez
Edward Herrmann	...	Charles Allsworth
Shawn Elliott	...	Thomas Chela / Minty Gutierrez
Brent Briscoe	...	Junior Barnes
Donna Eskra	...	Kiki Barnes
Carlos Carrasco	...	Capt. Garcia
Frank Pesce	...	Vito
Julie Lott	...	Julie

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and language.

Runtime:

88 min | UK:84 min | Argentina:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #37927) | Iceland:12 | Malaysia:18PL | Finland:K-11 (video premiere) | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Hungary:14 | Spain:13 | UK:12 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Kumbaya Productions Inc.

Goofs:

Continuity: Daryl pulls out his money clip to reward Freddie for saving his briefcase. The bill on top, after he pulls off the $100 bill, is a ten, but in the next shot he pulls a $5 bill from the very top.

Quotes:

[Freddy is walking through the desert, and sees a vulture]
Freddie Tiffany: How's your mama? We went out. You know, you'd make a nice 9-piece. You know we black people like chicken! You see any flies on me?
[the vulture starts flying toward Freddy]
Freddie Tiffany: I'm just playin!

Movie Connections:

Version of Across the Bridge (1957)

Soundtrack:

Stutter (Double Take Remix)

Decent comedy

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this movie. The trailers that I'd remembered seeing were pretty funny, but I'd assumed that those were the best parts of Double Take. Anyway, I watched it nonetheless and didn't think it was half bad. There were several parts not included in the trailer that were laugh-out-loud funny. Some might be offended by the fact that Griffen's character is (in the filmic sense) a "coon." Although nowhere near as good a comedy as Blazing Saddles, it is comparable in certain aspects. Double Take could be considered racist, but like Blazing Saddles, it uses racial stereotypes to emphasize the stupidity of their existence. Here, instead of black vs. white, we see upper-class African-Americans ashamed of the Sambo stereotype, and thus not associating with other African-Americans with lower social status. I'm not sure if this message was intentional in Double Take, but it was there nonetheless. Orlando Jones had a pretty good performance and Griffen was a convincing character (some might say he was over-the-top, but again I'd say this was essential). One problem was that the movie quite suddenly switched gears from a comedy to a somewhat serious action/suspense flick. I felt the heavy emphasis upon the latter took away from its comic moral message and made the movie shallower. So, it had potential. They could have recruited a few more writers to add in funnier jokes. All in all, a 6 out of 10.