National Security

To give you an idea of how completely, desperately unfunny "National Security" is, even Steve Zahn isn't funny.

Zahn is the guy who . . . almost . . . made such mediocrities as "Dr. Dolittle 2," "Saving Silverman," "Forces of Nature" and "The Object of My Attention" tolerable. He's a funny guy.

This time, however, he's stuck with a no-win situation. This alleged action-comedy tries to mine laughs from some of the most racially offensive material in recent memory. Who thought it was a good idea to make fun of the Rodney King beating or other racially motivated police-brutality?

The rest of the film is so haphazard and half-hearted that it appears to have been thrown together — as if the director and stars showed up to the set and started making up the whole thing on the spot.

The film's title refers to a security company where ex-cop Hank Rafferty (Zahn) finds himself working after he is convicted of police brutality in the beating of a black man named Earl Montgomery (Martin Lawrence). Hank tried — to no avail — to prove his innocence but wound up behind bars. Upon his release, he's still acting like a cop as he tries to track down the thieves who murdered his former partner (Timothy Busfield).

Unfortunately, his only ally may be Earl, a police academy wash-out who also works for the security company, and who sees a prime opportunity to prove himself as well.

Director Dennis Dugan has helmed a couple of Adam Sandler comedies, and his lack of comic skills are all too apparent here. Also, his idea of building tension is slow-motion camera work.

Worse, his slack direction allows Lawrence to riff continually and mug for the camera (there's no way any self-respecting screenwriter could have come up with most of his character's lame one-liners). Lawrence's performance is so embarrassing that you can practically see Zahn looking for some way to get out of this mess.

"National Security" is rated PG-13 for violence (gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, some slapstick and explosive mayhem), occasional use of strong profanity (including one usage of the so-called "R-rated" curse word), vulgar sex talk and sexual references, brief sexual contact and use of some racial epithets. Running time: 95 minutes.

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