Top Five

When talented people end up with lagging careers, the best take charge and create their own material. That's why you are going to enjoy Top Five. Chris Rock takes control of his destiny and it is awesome.

I am supposed to be on vacation this week, so we will keep this one short. Rock stars as Andre - a world famous comedian who became a world famous movie star thanks to a role he would rather forget.

He has abandoned comedy altogether for his next movie, and Andre has to spend the day with a New York Times reporter, Chelsea (Rosario Dawson), who will be producing a major profile, which will help promote his passion project, but she wants to dig deeper than maybe Andre, or she, wants to go.

Top Five is one of the best written movies you will see all year, and that's because Rock has brought his view of the world and unique voice to the movie as the writer, director and star.

The conversations between Chelsea and Andre ring more real than anything you will hear at a company holiday party this season as Rock deftly explores fame, the trappings of it, the desire for it, the stifling force it can be and everything in between. Plus, Dawson and Rock have wonderful chemistry together to keep the audience engaged at every turn, even if the proceedings get a little crazy at times.

Watch out for some great surprises towards the end, and be ready to laugh as well as be challenged intellectually. Rock is smart enough to know every situation and each character is more complex than you might realize, and gives each a little twist to make you realize he is not sending up a stereotype, but revealing something true about the society in which we live.

Top Five is rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language throughout and some drug use.