Blue Streak

Blue Streak Information

Blue Streak is a 1999 American action comedy film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Martin Lawrence. The 1999 film co-stars Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, William Forsythe and Nicole Ari Parker. The film was shot on location in California. The prime shooting spot was Sony Pictures Studios which is located in Culver City, California.

The film was released in September 1999 and opened as the number one movie in North America. It went on to gross nearly US$120 million at the worldwide box office.

The soundtrack was also a success and has been certified platinum. It features artists such as So Plush featuring Ja Rule, Keith Sweat, Tyrese featuring Heavy D, Foxy Brown, Kelly Price and others. The lead single from the soundtrack was "Girl's Best Friend" performed by Jay-Z. The single garnered much airplay on both television and radio.

Plot

Jewel thief Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence) participates in a $17 million diamond heist in Los Angeles. One accomplice, Deacon (Peter Greene), wants the diamond all for himself, killing one member of the team, and Logan escapes to a nearby construction site, hiding the diamond in a vent as the police close in. Deacon escapes, while Logan is caught and arrested as a robber, spending two years in jail. Upon his release, he argues with his ex-girlfriend, Janiece (Tamala Jones), who is angry for him lying to her about being a banker. Returning to the spot where he hid the diamond, Logan is dismayed that the site is the location of a new police headquarters.

Posing as a ghetto pizza deliveryman, Logan steals an ID card from a rookie detective, and has his contact Uncle Lou (Richard C. Sarafian) create a new persona for him, Detective Malone, a hotshot detective transferring from West Covina. After inadvertently foiling a prisoner escape while searching for the diamond, Logan is teamed up with naive detective Carlson (Luke Wilson) and sent out in the field. He teaches Carlson many different things on the job, substituting his criminal knowledge for police work, such as determining from a poorly-staged break-in that a car repair owner faked the theft of his own hubcaps with the intention of selling them on the streets, both finding the hubcaps and informing the owner that he would actually receive less for them on the street. Logan and Carlson bring in Logan's former accomplice Tulley (Dave Chappelle) during a failed robbery attempt- forcing Logan to convince him to go along with the arrest to maintain his cover-, and capture a truck that is carrying a large shipment of heroin, and is promoted to Lead Detective of the Burglary Division with the admiration of his colleagues. Although Carlson discovers that his identity is fake- Logan having never intended to spend this long in the station and therefore believing that a more detailed background wouldn't be required-, Logan convinces him that he is actually from Internal Affairs.

Eventually, Logan recovers the diamond from the vent in the Evidence Room- although briefly delayed when he discovers that it has fallen from its original hiding-place-, but accidentally drops it into the shipment of heroin. Before he can retrieve it, he and Tulley are volunteered for a sting operation to catch the heroin smugglers. At the delivery, Deacon is present and recognizes Logan. A shootout ensues, and Deacon is eventually killed by Logan.

Eventually, Detective Carlson discovers Miles Logan's identity as a criminal posing as an police officer. However, he discovers this after a car chase led Logan across the border to Mexico, where he is out of the LAPD's and the FBI's jurisdiction, and also where he claimed that he was actually a Mexican Federale. Even though he is only inches over the border, the other detectives feel that they are now friends and let him go. Logan leaves with the diamond.

Cast

Martin Lawrence as Miles Logan/Detective Malone
Luke Wilson as Carlson
Peter Greene as Deacon
Dave Chappelle as Tulley
William Forsythe as Detective Hardcastle
Nicole Ari Parker as Melissa Green
Graham Beckel as Rizzo
Robert Miranda as Glen
Olek Krupa as Jean LaFleur
Saverio Guerra as Benny
Richard C. Sarafian as Uncle Lou
Tamala Jones as Janiece
Julio Oscar Mechoso as Detective Diaz
Steve Rankin as FBI Agent Gray
Carmen Argenziano as Captain Penelli
John Hawkes as Eddie

Reception

Box office

The film opened at #1 with a weekend gross of $19,208,806 from 2,735 theaters for a per venue average of $7,023. It ended its run with $68,518,533 in North America, and $49,239,967 internationally for a total of $117,758,500 worldwide.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 36% based on reviews from 69 critics.

Roger Ebert praises the film giving it 3 stars out of 4.

Sequel

There were plans for a sequel which never materialized.

Soundtrack

Main article: Blue Streak (soundtrack)