It seems to have become common practice throughout the Hollywood marketing circles to relentlessly advertise their films as one of the must-see productions of the year, whether it’s through misleading trailers or quotes from random radio station critics who absolutely loved the latest box office flop. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the urban comedy “King’s Ransom” isn’t exactly going to be the film of the year, but it’s refreshing to see that the marketing team isn’t very supportive either, branding the movie posters with the tagline: “Big Man. Big Plans. Big Mistake.”
Anthony Anderson stars as self-obsessed businessman Malcolm King, the CEO of a multi-million dollar enterprise that he is currently in lieu of losing to his gold-digging wife Renee (Kellita Smith) in a divorce lawsuit that could leave him penniless. In a sneaky ploy to ruin Renee’s plans to steal his hard-earned empire, Malcolm enlists the help of his airhead mistress (Regina Hall) and her convict brother (Charlie Murphy) to stage a bogus kidnapping that will preserve his money-lined pockets. What he doesn’t know is that there are plenty of people around who wouldn’t mind kidnapping him themselves, and they all decide to try it at once, including his wife and her pool boy lover, a former employee (Nicole Ari Parker) who goes ballistic after losing out on a promotion, and Corey, an out-of-work idiot (Jay Mohr) who lives out of his grandmother’s basement. When Herb grabs the wrong guy, a parking valet (“Scrubs” co-star Donald Faison) pretending to be Malcolm, the real King winds up in the basement of down-on-luck Corey, whom he believes to be his hired help in the whole conspiracy.
The screwball script for “King’s Ransom” presents plenty of good reasons to not see the film, but it does prove to be entertaining at times, thanks mostly to its cast of wildly eccentric characters. Led by talented comic actors like Faison and Murphy, who both do their share of scene-stealing throughout, “King’s Ransom” offers at least a few good laughs along the way for those eager to drop eight bucks. If you need any more convincing not to see this film, make sure to take a look at the movie poster on your way into the theater, it reads in big, black letters: “Big Mistake.”
2 / 5 Stars
Starring: Anthony Anderson, Jay Mohr, Donald Faison, Regina King, Charlie Murphy
Director: Jeff Byrd
