Wednesday, May 9, 2018

The Best and Worst of Gabrielle Union

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Breaking In” star Gabrielle Union.

Films starring Gabrielle Union that I've seen:
10 Things I Hate About You
Bring It On
Cradle 2 the Grave
Bad Boys II
The Honeymooners
Meet Dave
Cadillac Records
Top Five
The Birth of a Nation
Sleepless

Best Performance: Top Five (2014)
Anytime an actor disappears so far into a role that you forget they're acting is wildly impressive and that's exactly what Union pulled off in Top Five. As the reality star fiancé of actor Andre Allen (Chris Rock), Union captures the narcissism, greed, fame-chasing and overwhelming desire to project a life of perfection to the general public that drives individuals that agree to have every minute of their life caught on camera with an eerie degree of accuracy.

Worst Performance: Sleepless (2017)

I don't know if it was because she lost the action movie chops she displayed in the early stages of her career or this was simply a poorly-constructed character, but Union kind of stunk in Sleepless. Union was the only member of this crime thriller's ensemble that refused to embrace the schlocky vibe that naturally comes with a "mobsters kidnap the teenage son of a dirty cop after a drug deal gone bad" plot, which made her scenes relatively hard to buy into.

Best Film: Top Five (2014)
Over two decades into a film career that hasn't exactly been rife with quality projects, Chris Rock finally made his masterpiece with Top Five. The standup icon's third directorial effort is a brilliant meditation on relationships, addiction, self-doubt and the hollowness of fame that showcases why he's one of the smartest comic minds to ever walk the earth.

Worst Film: Bring It On (2000)
Bring It On isn't so much a bad film as it is one that doesn't line up with my personal taste. Peyton Reed's cult comedy hit didn't have enough laughs or likable characters to offset my complete disinterest in the world of competitive cheerleading.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Deadpool 2” star Terry Crews.

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