After his sitcom ended in ‘97 Martin Lawrence would ride his popularity and step easily into the world of feature films. Before his hit show was even over, Martin had starred with Will Smith in Bad Boys, and headlined his first solo film, a comical riff of Fatal Attraction, in 1996’s A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.
So, Lawrence was familiar with big screen acting and from ‘97 to ’99 he would star in a trio of movies. One of them being the hilarious 1999 action-comedy Blue Streak. We’re going to dive into the behind the scenes, and on the screen details of this slightly forgotten gem. Now today we’re talking about one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. The conveniences and the absurdity in this film are evident. However, the amusement, and the overall hyper realistic atmosphere that Blue Streak delivers, easily makes it a feel-good flick for me.
The idea for this film came from producer Tony Jaffe. The script was written by Michael Berry and John Blumenthal. Berry and Blumenthal had also worked together on the 1990 comedy Short Time. And third writer Steve Carpenter who also had a few writing credits under his belt came in to do page-one revisions. And I would say the trio was able to deliver a more than capable story for the needs of fueling Lawrence’s brand of humor. While also delivering appealing action that never abandons its comedic roots.
Blue Streak is actually inspired by the 1965 comedy The Big Job and runs very similarly to that film’s progression to the point it would easily be considered a remake in today’s Hollywood. That film would center on a group of thieves who steal a case of money and hide it in a hollowed-out tree before getting caught. When they get out of prison, they find the tree is now in the center of a police department plaza. Here, Lawrence’s Miles Logan steals a diamond. Hides it in the ventilation ducts of a building under construction. Gets caught, and when he gets out of prison, he finds the building is now a police station. So, it’s undeniable they parallel each other more than closely.
Regardless, it’s a great plot for an action comedy and it works for this film because I think Blue Streak is a mindlessly fun riot. Columbia Pictures would like the concept for Blue Streak and production would be given a green light with a budget of $65M. Which may sound high, but you want to remember this was the peak of Martin’s popularity and he was able to enter the $20M club in Hollywood meaning he was without question A-List in the industry next to names like Jim Carrey, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Chris Tucker. Because it was the 90s and comedy was riding high at the box-office.
Martin reportedly was in negotiations on a two-film deal with Columbia Pictures. One movie would be National Security, and the other was intended to be Blue Streak 2. There reportedly was a sequel in early development in 2001. The plot would see Wilson’s Carlson finding Lawrence’s Logan down in Mexico to recruit him to help foil a bomb threat. Martin would make National Security with Steven Zahn in 2003, but there would never be a sequel and Martin’s next couple of films would be with 20th Century Fox following Blue Streak. So, it doesn’t appear a deal with Columbia was ever inked out.
This leads to a fun fact. It’s been reported the script that was intended to be Blue Streak 2 was actually revised, reworked, and would ultimately be turned into the 2002 action-comedy Bad Company starring Chris Rock, and Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Production would run smoothly despite a couple revisions to the tone and the script in places. During pre-production Blue Streak was intended to be an adult action-comedy with an R rating. Columbia Pictures wanted a PG-13 rating to appeal to a wider audience so the language and the tone overall had to be dialed back a bit. This meant changes to certain plot beats, certain comedic situations, and to the dialogue. So, John August was brought in as a script doctor to make these revisions. However, it’s been stated in interviews from director Les Mayfield that there were many improvisations made throughout shooting, especially after the casting of Lawrence in the lead, and you can tell when watching.
Now as for casting. It seems Lawrence was the main choice from the jump. I couldn’t dig up any information on other actors who were in consideration. But Lawrence was a great choice for this role as he’s likable, extremely charismatic, he can do the action, and there’s no denying he’s hilarious. I think he’s easily able to carry this film, and I don’t think many comedic actors could’ve done Miles Logan better.
But he isn’t alone in Blue Streak because I think the ensemble cast from top-to-bottom is very strong. First is Luke Wilson, who I think is very underrated. Carlson is the straight, by-the-book character to Martin’s eccentric and comedically intense Logan and Wilson is great in this role as the bumbling and naive but surprisingly capable rookie detective. He has his moments to land his own laughs, but he plays so well off Lawrence, and their balance of humor is so amusing in this movie.
Then there’s Dave Chappelle as Logan’s friend Tulley. This was actually supposed to be a one-day shoot for Chappelle but the chemistry between Lawrence and Chapelle and the comedic brilliance of Chapelle was immediately evident. So, the story was rewritten once again, and his role was greatly expanded up to the #3 character on the call-sheet. This was certainly a smart movie because every time Lawrence and Chapelle are on the screen together laughter is the result and that’s exactly what you want from this type of movie.
Rounding out the focal cast is the most essential character to a film and that would be the villain. And for the heavy in this one the always awesome Peter Greene plays Deacon. The slimy partner who double-crossed Logan in the beginning, causing him to get caught by the police. Greene just has a villain face. His eyes are intense. His character is smart, calculated, relentless, and despite the lighthearted atmosphere of Blue Streak, Greene plays Deacon with more than enough of a sadistic vibe to provide this movie a great bad guy.
Filming for Blue Streak would take place from January to April of ‘99 in Southern California. Most of the focal shooting would take place at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City. Other locations used were Santa Clarita, Downtown LA, dusty Fontana, Venice, and various other locations throughout SoCal. The building used for the police station was actually the LA Central Public Library. Production built a massive facade and fastened it to the building for the exterior shots. Like a giant Lego.
Once completed, Blue Streak would drop into theaters on September 17th of 1999, and it would take the #1 spot at the box-office with a $19.2M opening weekend in over 2700 theaters. Domestically Blue Streak would haul in over $68.5M and with international sales the combined tally for the film would surpass $117.8M. Now, passing $100M for a comedy would seem like a success, but it must not have been enough for the studio to greenlight the planned sequel. Audiences seemed to dig it but the critical reviews were mostly lackluster so that could’ve forecasted the potential of a stale sequel with the studio heads.
Now as for the music to Blue Streak. It’s certainly another strength for the film. The soundtrack was filled with great songs from names like Tyrese, Jay-Z, Heavy D, Ja Rule, Jungle Brothers, Kelly Price, and many others. Blue Streak: The Album would actually peak at #31 on the Billboard 200, and #9 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and I remember having it on CD and on rotation. It also must be said the musical scoring by Edward Shearmur is absolutely perfect for the jovial caper vibe of this film’s plot. The scoring just creates a charming mood that fits the story perfectly.
So, when you put all of these pieces together the result is a hilarious ride with an engaging story that has just enough moving pieces and plenty of effective humor from the dialogue to situational. The sense of humor here is relentless and Blue Streak is a strong comedy first and it incorporates the action perfectly as a complement to the laughs. It’s silly, and mindless, the characters are all exaggerated caricatures of the tried-and-true character types we know, and it all just gels nicely.
You have the focal plot of Logan trying to go undercover as a detective to retrieve his diamond inside the police station. This is where he’s assigned to partner up with Carlson, and instead of being able to get straight to his scavenger hunt he has to go out and actually be a detective. He goes out on a case with Carlson where he eventually crosses paths with his old friend Tulley so there are frequent close calls when it comes to his cover being blown.
Then you get the villainous Deacon. Logan’s ex-partner who knows he’s out of jail and seeking out the diamond. So with Deacon hot on his trail, you can feel it looming in the background. Then Logan and Carlson get pulled into an international drug trafficking operation involving the FBI where Logan’s criminal mind proves to make him a capable detective. So, the film is constantly moving forward, it doesn’t recycle the jokes, and while not all the attempts at humor land Blue Streak is a hilarious romp and Lawrence shines.
Things get going quickly with the heist. The alley standoff with Tully is hilarious. The shootout inside the convenience store is here, Wilson is particularly comical here. The interrogation scenes are funny both with the driver and with Tulley. And in true Martin sitcom fashion Lawrence gets to put on a costume when he portrays Ghetto Buck the pizza delivery driver and it’s one of my favorite scenes in the film. And when he leads the officers in the meeting at the police station and launches into his karate. It’s just great.
But overall Blue Streak is just able to put the right pieces in the right place. It’s well-paced, delivers endless humor, and perfect doses of action. The finale is filled with just enough spectacle, just enough gusto, but it never forgets the comedy at the core. It’s certainly ridiculous, it’s heavily cartoonish and that’s why it’s a hysterical escape into a hyper-reality where a jewel thief turns detective to find a diamond hidden in a police station. And with its late ‘99 release it’s one of the last great action comedies of the 90s.
CAST: Martin Lawrence, Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle, Peter Greene, William Forsythe, Nicole Ari Parker DIRECTOR: Les Mayfield WRITER(S): Michael Berry, John Blumenthal, Stephen Carpenter DISTRIBUTOR: Columbia Pictures RUNNING TIME: 93 minutes RATING: PG-13 (For action violence, continuous language and some crude humor) YEAR: 1999 LANGUAGE: English GENRE: Action/Comedy/Crime
Anthony J. Digioia II © 2024 SilverScreen Analysis & Movies Never Say Die!
