Movie Review: What's the Worst That Could Happen (2001)

The movie stars Martin Lawrence, Danny DeVito, John Leguizamo, Bernie Mac and Carmen Ejogo.

My wife was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday afternoon so, while she was taking a nap and the kids were playing quietly, I ended up looking for a film to watch on one of our movie channels. I came across this one and, realizing I had never watched the entire movie before, decided to do that. And, overall, I found I enjoyed it.

I'm actually not a huge Martin Lawrence or Danny DeVito fan. But, after watching this movie, I have to admit they worked really well together. DeVito played the greedy Fairbanks the way I would expect him to and Lawrence did an excellent job as his tormentor.

What I found I really liked about this movie, however, is the way it avoided being as predictable as comedies usually are. Fairbanks wasn't exactly a pushover and, as Lawrence's Caffery kept upping the stakes, I began to wonder when he would finally cross a line that would end up getting him caught.

Plus, as he became more and more obsessed over getting back his ring, I couldn't help but wonder if his obsession would cost him his relationship with his girlfriend (Ejogo). It was her ring and she gave it to him. However, she also seemed truly worried about what would happen to him if he kept going after it.

I also liked the introduction of Detective Alex Tardio (William Fichtner). At first, I wasn't sure what to think of him. But, he proved to be an intriguing character because he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, despite the fact he was barking up the wrong tree when he thought Fairbanks was faking the robberies. As a result of this, I figured he would end up being the one to figure things out and cause some serious problems as a result of that.

This proved to be an entertaining movie that was funny and not nearly as predictable as I was expecting it to be. If you haven't seen it, it's a good rainy day film.

My Grade: B