Top Five (2014)
78%RT Audience Score: 64%
Awards & Nominations: 5 wins & 21 nominations
As smart, funny, and trenchant as writer-director-star Chris Rock’s best standup work, Top Five is a career highlight for its creator — and one of the comedy standouts of 2014
Top Five is Chris Rock’s best film to date, according to critics. While some found it to be a sophisticated examination of fame and artistic freedom, others thought it relied too heavily on crass humor. Personally, I thought it was hilarious and heartwarming, with standout performances from Rock and Rosario Dawson. Plus, that sex scene was truly unforgettable. Overall, Top Five is a must-watch for fans of Chris Rock and anyone who loves a good romantic comedy with a side of raunchy humor.
Production Company(ies)
Zanuck Brown Productions, Universal Pictures,
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language throughout and some drug use
Year of Release
2014
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Datasat Dolby Digital
-
Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
-
Runtime:1h 41m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 2014 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 17, 2015
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
Top Five, Chris Rock, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, directed by Chris Rock, written by Chris Rock, produced by Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, comedy, R-rated, box office, budget, reviewed by Michael Jones, Dwight Brown, Jason Bailey, Ryan Gilbey, Tara Brady, Mark Kermode, Kip Mooney, Richard Crouse, Allen Almachar, David Harris, Nick Rogers, Tom Bond, Woody Allen-esque, social awareness, satire, meta, reality stars, celebrities, on-screen personas, cameos
Worldwide gross: $26,117,471
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $32,640,237
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,516
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,559,459
US/Canada gross: $25,317,471
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,640,439
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,258
US/Canada opening weekend: $6,896,593
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $8,618,998
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 993
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $12,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $14,996,967
Production budget ranking: 1,515
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $8,075,867
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $9,567,404
ROI to date (est.): 41%
ROI ranking: 1,190
Rosario Dawson – Chelsea Brown
Kevin Hart – Charles
Gabrielle Union – Erica
Tracy Morgan – Fred
Cedric the Entertainer – Jazzy Dee
Director(s)
Chris Rock
Writer(s)
Chris Rock
Producer(s)
Scott Rudin, Eli Bush
Film Festivals
Toronto
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 21 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (187) | Top Critics (66) | Fresh (160) | Rotten (27)
Overall, I appreciate what this film does in showcasing a more serious Chris Rock. I think it’s his best film to date.
August 15, 2017 | Rating: 3/5
Michael Jones
Shadow and Act
TOP CRITIC
Top Five gives us a glimpse of [Rock’s] comic genius. Just a tad.
March 21, 2017
Dwight Brown
National Newspaper Publishers Association
TOP CRITIC
He finds a cinematic approximation of his act: free-flowing, unpredictable, personal, spiced up with pop cultural references, political shout-outs, and a decidedly hip-hop energy, and above all else, funny as hell.
June 7, 2016
Jason Bailey
Flavorwire
TOP CRITIC
Top Five is hardly in the same class as Stardust Memories but it is still manifestly cinema, rather than filmed comedy, and the gags are often visually sophisticated.
May 14, 2015
Ryan Gilbey
New Statesman
TOP CRITIC
Beneath the meta-fiction and the lulz lies a genuinely warm romance in the style of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise.
May 10, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Tara Brady
Irish Times
TOP CRITIC
Rock’s crass reliance on misogynist hooker gags and hot-sauce-up-the-ass homophobia routines means that an Adam Sandler cameo hardly seems out of place.
May 10, 2015 | Rating: 2/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
An absolute embarrassment of riches.
August 10, 2021 | Rating: A-
Kip Mooney
Central Track
Rock and Dawson spark in long, uncut scenes of dialogue that echo Before Midnight. Flirting and sparring throughout the film, they are at the heart of the story but Rock has populated the movie with other interesting characters and cameos.
February 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Richard Crouse
Richard Crouse
On one hand, it’s an insightful examination of fame and artistic freedom. On the other, it’s a sexual comedy of the most obscene nature.
July 16, 2020 | Rating: C+
Allen Almachar
The MacGuffin
Top Five…finally gives Rock the filmic vehicle he has needed since he tried to transition to the screen.
November 27, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
David Harris
Spectrum Culture
Big laughs and believable vulnerability. But it also has aged faster than Indiana Jones Nazis unable to spot the cup of a carpenter and relies on truly retrograde eye-rolling plot turns about reporters’ motives.
June 24, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
Nick Rogers
Midwest Film Journal
Featuring the funniest sex scene since Team America, and a film-stealing cameo from an unexpected rapper, Top Five is such an enjoyable watch that it’s easy to ignore how slick and clever it often is.
May 10, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Tom Bond
One Room With A View…
Plot
A comedian tries to reconnect with his comedic roots while spending the day with a New York Times profile writer who has just panned his passion project about the Haitian Revolution in Top Five.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Top Five on Fresh Kernels.
Chris-Rock.jpg
