"Double Take" is a perfect example of one of these movies.
Using that whole switcheroo story for the umpteenth time, "Double Take" is the tortuous story of the trials and tribulations of overachiever Daryl Chase (7-Up spokeswhore Orlando Jones).
Chase has a lingerie-modeling wife, a high-paying Wall Street banking job, and snazzy clothes that hide his bland personality.
After a confusing series of events that would baffle any attentive college-aged student, Chase is on the run (get the pun) from the law and must conspire with a newly acquired eccentric friend named Freddy (Eddie Griffin). Together, they escape to Mexico (instead of choosing the more closely neighboring country of Canada) in an attempt to flee from the CIA, FBI, SEC, MCI, blah, blah.
"Double Take" has so many things going wrong that it would seem impossible for it to reach anything near the bull's-eye of goodness.
Griffin is the lone firecracker of the cast, literally jumping off the screen with vigor like a jack-in-the-box that has refused to go back down but instead keeps bouncing and bouncing.
Jones, on the other hand, ends up playing boring well, almost sleepwalking at times, and leaves the small amount of laughs to Griffin.
These laughs, while few and far between, are part of an eyebrow-raising script that ends up playing the switch of the two main characters to death. Since all black males look exactly alike, of course, the authorities chase the two as if the movie were another "Parent Trap." Stereotypical humor can be subtle, but "Double Take" makes light of the fact by plundering black and white jokes and promoting racism as if it was a marketing tool.
It also doesn't help the movie any that its whole plot is more confusing than quantum physics. Action comedies (like "Rush Hour," which was directed by "Double Take" producer Brett Ratner) should be simple in their setup and leave the rest to comedy, but "Double Take" puts Scooby Doo twists to a new headache-inducing level.
