National Security (film)

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National Security

Poster for the movie National Security.
Directed by Dennis Dugan
Produced by Moritz Borman,
Martin Lawrence,
Peaches Davis,
Nigel Sinclair,
Jeff Kwatinetz
Written by Jay Scherick,
David Ronn
Starring Martin Lawrence,
Steve Zahn
Music by Randy Edelman
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) January 17, 2003
Running time 88 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

National Security is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn. In addition to Lawrence and Zahn, National Security boasts an additional cast of Bill Duke, Eric Roberts, Colm Feore, Matt McCoy, and others.

The film was released in January 2003 and went on to gross over thirty-five million dollars at the box office. The film was shot at various locations in Greater Los Angeles, including Long Beach and Santa Clarita.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film begins showing thugs breaking and entering a warehouse for unknown reasons. After they smash the lock by freezing it and using a hammer on it. The alarm call is sent out to the cops, but is then canceled, but Hank (Steve Zahn), a white man, and his partner Charlie decide to check it out anyway. They discover the broken door and request backup, but rather than wait, they venture in. They split up to search the place, but while Hank searches the upstairs floor, Charlie comes under fire. When Hank reaches his partners location however, Charlie is shot and killed by an unknown assailant with the thugs, who Hank could not properly see. The thugs drive away, leaving Hank in a state of shock, seeing his partner die and being unable to do anything to save him.

We then switch to Earl Montgomery (Martin Lawrence), a black man, who is taking a Police Academy test to become a police officer. He does excellently, although he intentionally misses a target portraying an armed perpetrator, claiming he is only defending himself against the four white people surrounding him that Earl shot.

We switch back to Hank, who is at Charlie's funeral. He wants in on the investigation into who killed him, but chief Washington (Bill Duke) is refused because he is a uniform, not a detective, and the thugs made off with $800,000 worth of computer chips, and thus that case gets more priority than a cop killer case. Hank walks off disappointed, but Washington promises him they'll find the killer.

Back with Earl, he laughs at another trainee's apparently 'bad' driving skills (though the trainer commends him), and sparks a rivalry with the head trainer, who takes over the perp driver for the next test, where Earl must capture the perpetrator. Earl is discovered to be a wannabe stunt driver when he jumps the police car through one of the buildings to continue chase, scaring the perpetrator driver/head trainee out of the car and forcing him to run, but Earl smacks him down with the police car door. The police car, without a driver, drives into the barrels and blows up. Because of this, Earl is promptly ejected from the Academy, ranting about how better he is than those people.

The two finally meet when Hank spots Earl suspiciously sticking his arm into a locked car. The car does belong to Earl, but Hank suspects car thievery. Earl immediately annoys Hank to the point of which he tries to arrest Earl, but a bumblebee comes along and Earl, being allergic to bees, has Hank swat it away. However, someone films the whole scene and forward it to the police, claiming it was assault. Things turn from bad to worse when shots of Earl are taken with severe bruising, but the bruises were actually swellings caused by bumblebee stings, and Hank is forced to turn in his badge, and is incarcerated for six months following assault charges. As he gets off the prison transport bus, he is attacked by inmates due to his criminal charge. After the cops stop the quarrel, Hank is told to stop being resistant or he will be put into solitaire. Hank gazes at a small group of black inmates behind a chainlink fence staring menacingly him. After seeing this, Hank attacks the guard, and the next scene is him getting out of solitaire after being in the "hole" 3 out of his 6 months to be served. He looks to 3 black men mopping the floor down a hall and they make gestures of sliding their finger across their throat to warn him of what they will do to him if he goes out there. He punches the guard who opened the cell, and while the guard is down, Hank walks back into his cell closing the door behind him.

Despite this, Hank continues his investigation as best as he can, but because he is no longer part of the force, he has less access to crime info. He looks for a description of a tattoo he saw on the killer's wrist, but turns up dry. While on duty, however, he catches word of a silent alarm at a beverage warehouse, which like the original warehouse - where the chips were stolen - ends up being canceled shortly after. Hank disregards that little fact, and immediately goes to investigate.

Ironically enough, Earl is also a security guard, working at the beverage warehouse, and while attempting to have fun with Lola (Mari Morrow), he hears gunshots, noticing another security guard firing at several perpetrators, though doesn't realize it's Hank. Hank is eventually held at gunpoint by a perpetrator and discovers the killers name - Nash (Eric Roberts), but before Nash kills Hank, Earl provides covering fire and allows Hank to get away. They eventually end up side by side, and put aside their differences to get the thugs. They escape in a van with unknown crates, and although Hank and Earl give chase, LAPD pulls the two over and detains them, allowing Nash to escape.

Back at the police station, it seems like Hank is on his way back to prison. Earl, however, as payment for Hank saving him, drops the assault charges, thus allowing both of them to go free. Together, both looking to go against Nash, they are given permission to look into the case. The first piece of evidence is the mobile phone the thugs dropped at the beverage warehouse, and they find out that they rented a 'big red truck'.

They find a red 18-wheeler, but ironically, the actual truck rented is white, and says 'BIG RED TRUCK' on the side. they spot it getting away, and secretly jump on the back, and eventually get inside, where the van the thugs used at the both warehouse heists is located, along with the mysterious package. They take the van, and inadvertently drive it right off the freeway, making it land on a garbage ship. After Hank gloats at Nash's gang, they discover that the packages are actually beer kegs, but upon taking it to a foundry, a worker informs them that it is actually an 'aerospace alloy', worth millions.

They store the van and the kegs at Hank's ex-girlfriend Denise's house, and Earl promises to tell her the truth about the assault charges. However, when he discovers that Denise (Robinne Lee) is mixed race, he holds off, leading to an argument. She forces the both of them out. Once Earl has pushed Hank too far, Hank really hits him, punching him straight in the jaw and walking away.

When Hank heads to the impound lot, Earl comes back and tells him that he lost dignity in Hank, then he starts hitting on the woman behind the counter. Then Hank loudly tells Earl to get his stuff out of the car, and get away from him, but pretty soon after, Hank is arrested for a shootout at the impound, but Earl comes at the last second and saves Hank, then punches him in the face for the earlier attack, making it even. When they hide in the car wash, they discover someone has put an APB on the both of them for the shootout at the bridge. They realize that someone on the inside is working for Nash and must have been told that they took the van. They then discover that the police car they are driving has been tracked, and ditch it while in the process of having the car washed. They then hitch a ride to the van owners house.

While staking out on a rooftop, Hank tells Earl that the reason why he's after Nash so hard is that Nash is Charlie's killer. Right there and then, Earl begins to warm up to Hank, then tells him he's gonna get something to eat. However, he breaks into the house instead. Nash and pals enter the house, confirming the belief that Nash owns the van, and a shootout between Earl and Nash ensues. Hank reaches the house in time to see Earl get shot in the leg. He gives Hank 'Earl Jr.' (His modified Glock 18), but Nash escapes before Hank unloads the clip on the entire room. they discover that MacDuff is the dirty cop when he calls Nash and leaves a message that Hank and Earl were last seen at the impound lot. They trace the message to the marina yacht club, but first take Earl to get his wound treated.

Of course, they can't go to the hospital because the cops are looking for them, so instead they go see Denise. Reluctantly, she agrees. She reveals that the bullet barely touched him, and it's only a scratch. A bumblebee comes into the house, and Earl runs for cover, revealing the truth about the assault to Denise, and provoking her to possibly attack Earl. Later, Earl tells Hank that she hits almost as he does.

They then head off to the Yacht Club, disguised as waiters, and overhear McDuff and Nash dealing with each other. They meet with Washington, and reveal to him that all they know. They set up a deal with McDuff to sell him back the alloy for $1,000,000 at Lunar Point, but Nash finds out early and grabs the police chief before he can call a SWAT team, and replaces them with his own men.

When the deal goes down at Lunar Point, they call in the SWAT, but they are revealed as being Nash's man, and Washington is being held at gunpoint. Luckily, Earl and Hank initiate a shootout and he escapes in the van with them. But unfortunately, Earl crashes the van, and they have to run. They shoot the chasing truck, which explodes into a gas pipe, leading the tunnel the trio are running through to blow up, but they are able to escape. Hank runs off to kill Nash, losing his friends in the process. Earl goes to look for him, while Washington takes cover to clean up the rest of the mess.

Hank gets to the top of the cliff, but drops his gun, and notices that Nash's friend has a clear sight on Earl, so he screams out for Earl, giving his position away and Hank gets shot. Earl retaliates and kills the thug. He notices Nash is coming for him, but 'Earl Jr.' jams when he tries to reload, leaving him defenseless. He hides under a concrete slab, and when Nash walks onto it, he trips him up and kicks the gun away, leaving them in a hand-to-hand fight. Meanwhile, Hank, though injured, is able to reach a low crane, and uses the iron hook to smash the concrete slab, throwing Nash out into the sea. Meanwhile, Earl is hanging on to the cliff top because of Hanks antics, so he quickly swings the hook by Earl for him to grab, after a few failed attempts, Earl is able to jump off just before the slab falls to the ground below. Hank pulls Earl to safety using the crane, and they walk away satisfied.

As thanks for putting aside their differences, they are both allowed into the LAPD, and become partners. They find a man trying to break into a car, but Earl is confident he just locked his keys in the car, and helps him unlock it. The real owner then screams, and Earl, realizing his mistake, shoots the back tires out. After Earl says the car can be reoccupied, it blows up, leaving both cops dumbfounded.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Taglines

  • They only look like cops.
  • He only looks like a cop.
  • This January, a buddy comedy without the buddies.
  • "What the problem is?" (Earl Montgomery's Catchphrase)
  • "Let me get this straight...your partner got killed, you lost your job, you got thrown in jail, your girlfriend walked, and now you're a security guard making 182 dollars a week? You know what you are Hank? You're a black man." - Montgomery, during their rooftop stakeout.

[edit] Critical Reception

  • The film was poorly received by critics, receiving a rating of 13% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[edit] Facts and trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • More than 400,000 bottles of soft drinks and beer were used as background scenery, during the shootout in the warehouse.
  • The DVD has an alternate ending.
  • Earl's gun, "Earl Jr." is a Glock 18C with an extended 33 round magazine with silver slide and Insight M3 light.
  • Digimon Adventure appeared in this movie, in which Hank Rafferty's girlfriend was watching the episode "Evil Shows His Face".

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Dennis Dugan

Problem Child (1990) • Brain Donors (1992) • Happy Gilmore (1996) • Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) • Big Daddy (1999) • Saving Silverman (2001) • National Security (2003) • The Benchwarmers (2006) • I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) • You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008)