Nothing to Lose (1997) starring Martin Lawrence, Tim Robbins, John C. McGinley, Giancarlo Esposito, Kelly Preston, Irma P. Hall directed by Steve Oedekerk Movie Review

Nothing to Lose (1997)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Martin Lawrence in Nothing to Lose (1997)

Nothing Too New

There must be a name for it, I know I had it with some of Adam Sandler's movies and I know others have it with different movies to. What am I on about? I am on about movies when you first watched them they were hilarious but when watched again you wonder how you could have thought it was that good. Take "Nothing to Lose" an unlikely buddy movie from 1997 which saw Tim Robbins paired up with Martin Lawrence and it was a movie that when I first watched it I thought was hilarious. But now almost 16 years later "Nothing to Lose" is nothing like as funny as I remembered it and seems almost ordinary with just a few scenes which stand out.

Nick Beam (Tim Robbins - The Shawshank Redemption) thought life was great, that was until he came home unexpected to find his wife Ann (Kelly Preston) banging his boss. Devastated and in a daze things take a turn for the worse when T. Paul (Martin Lawrence - Bad Boys) tries to carjack him, try being the operative word as Nick snaps and kidnaps him. So starts an unlikely friendship as after driving into the middle of a desert Nick has an idea to get back at his boss by robbing him. But embarking on a life of crime is not the only thing Nick has to worry about as a couple of robbers are following them.

Tim Robbins in Nothing to Lose (1997)

Here's the truth "Nothing to Lose" is not an original movie as it basically combines a selection of cliches to deliver an unlikely buddy movie. It does fly off on some entertaining tangents as Nick gets hit upon in a bar as well as trying to make a social commentary surrounding how sometimes people have to resort to desperate measures. But the end result is just another unlikely buddy movie which watched once is fun but suffers on repeat viewings.

But whilst "Nothing to Lose" ends up being too familiar it is a movie which still delivers some stand out scenes. From T. Paul being left dangling over a balcony when he is robbed to the twist which happens just before that. There are a lot more and Irma P. Hall who is barely in the movie as T. Paul's mother steals the movie with just a few words and a couple of slaps. But unfortunately there is just as much moronic humour which drags it down with jokes which could have been plucked from any movie.

The reason why those scenes work is because whilst "Nothing to Lose" is familiar it is well cast. From the supporting cast such as Irma P. Hall, Kelly Preston and John C. McGinley to are main pair of Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence. There is great comic chemistry between Robbins and Lawrence which gets better and better the longer the movie goes on with some of their funniest scenes coming towards the end of the movie.

What this all boils down to is that "Nothing to Lose" is still a good comedy with some stand out scenes. But it is a familiar movie which revolves around the unlikely buddy set up and as such delivers plenty of familiar cliches.


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