A comedy of situations called Laughing to the Bank has been released on DVD. The raunchy little ditty with its low budget does a fairly good job of entertaining in spite of its clichéd script. Brian Hooks, a noted comedian who played opposite Kevin Hart in Fools Gold, makes his directing debut with the film and also takes on several of the characters Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence style.
The movie centers on Brian Hooks a comedian who has been falling short as an actor, not being cast for available product in Hollywood. Down on his luck, he decides to pitch a film of his own to producers with film financing. His script features many funny characters and in the studio pitches he plays most all of them himself.
The movie opens with Brian being hustled by Las Vegas mobsters who want a cut of his winnings. Under pressure he tries to tell the mob leader he doesn’t remember where the money is unless he can tell the story from the very beginning (ala The Hangover). In flashback we find Brian making a pitch to a production company. Here he shows a sketch about Bumpy “Deep Fried” Rollins who has a cooking show where guests cook their favorite dishes. Hooks introduces Amber White a home cook who attempts to show how she makes chicken which ends in disaster.
It doesn’t impress the mob, but they let him continue through several other shows including the “Tooters” where the king has flatulence, then on to his manager Morty who recommends he go to Las Vegas. Brian along with his best friends and business partners finally arriving at the Pink Motel in Las Vegas, where they set up to get financing. Brian keeps his film moving along at a fast pace until the ‘revealing comical’ knock-out ending. I liked his sketch involving the “Fataphile” and his skit called “Cheatin” that mimics the Cable show “Cheaters”.
The low budget film has no frills and basically sticks to the story using material that seems to be take offs on film and television shows like The Hangover, Big Momma’s House, Norbit and other comedies that have the main actor playing several characters. He gets funny in parts, but doesn’t reach more than average for a comedy.
The camera work is about average and during the scenes where Brian is being pushed around by the mob it gets a little dark with the low lighting. I do like the fact that the film does fill my whole 16×9 HD Television screen with the 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The sound using the Dolby Digital 5.1 is very good and all the dialogue was easily understood.
Laughing to the Bank has been rated R by the MPAA for crude sexual content and pervasive language.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Brian Hooks, Devyn Ashley, Tabitha Brown, Darrel Cherney
Director: Brian Hooks
MPAA Rating: R for crude sexual content and pervasive language
Genre: Comedy, Spoofs / Satire
Running Time: 1 hr 26 min
Video Release Date: February 18, 2014
Original Film Release Date: September 6, 2013
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: 16×9 Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
Subtitles: Closed Captions CC
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
