\Malibu's Most Wanted"" is set against the streets of Malibu, where there is a pimped-out SUV on every corner and ""champagne wishes and caviar dreams"" in every mansion. It is the story of governor-hopeful Bill Gluckman (Ryan O'Neal) and his nearly perfect family, wife Bess (Bo Derek) and their young daughter.?? The family and Bill's campaign is inhibited from perfection by Bill's black sheep son and gangsta poseur Brad (Jamie Kennedy, ""Scream"").?? Brad, or B-Rad as he goes by on the streets, spends his days kickin' it with his crew Mocha, Monster, and Hadji (Kal Penn, ""Van Wilder"") at the local Malibrew Coffee Shop and ""rapping about anything.""
??B-Rad, who first discovered rap at age three and spent more time growing up with ""Yo! MTV Raps"" than with his absentee parents, quickly becomes a problem for his father's campaign, especially after advising him to ""keep his pimp hand strong."" With the election closing in and after a failed attempt with a psychologist to cure B-Rad of his ""gangstaphrenia,"" Bill's campaign manager Tom Gibbons (Blair Underwood) decides to keep B-Rad out of sight and cure him by hiring actors to play gangstas to kidnap B-Rad, show him the real gangsta/ghetto life, and ""scare the black out of him.""??Tom hires Sean (Taye Diggs) and PJ (Anthony Anderson, ""Kangaroo Jack""), and with help from attractive Shondra (Regina Hall, ""Scary Movie 2""), the kidnapping goes accordingly.?? But once in the 'hood the plans fall apart amongst a Korean grocery store, real gangs, a scary movie and a freestyle competition.
There are an incredible number of things wrong and not funny about this supposed comedy.??First, the main joke and premise is about a white guy acting black.??This idea is almost as played out and irritating as the way Jamie Kennedy talks, which gets annoying after just three minutes of listening to him speak.??The audience understands that he is a white guy acting black and no movie should be dedicated to a single joke.?? Secondly, this movie-unless trying to ride the coattails of ""8 Mile"" or on the idea that today's bling-blinging, big name rappers have no more tie to the 'hood than does a white Jew from Malibu, should have been released back in the late-80s when Will Smith was calling white preppies acting black ""cornflake.""??Then there is the argument that this movie falls under the ""stupid funny"" category, but it's far more stupid than funny.??
Next is the character of B-Rad.??Jamie Kennedy seems to be going for a cross between the Offspring's ""Pretty Fly for a White Guy"" video and Seth Green's ghetto-poseur character in ""Can't Hardly Wait.""??Perhaps if Kennedy had seen this gem of a movie, he would have realized that there is NOTHING funny about a white guy acting like a gangsta.??
Finally, there is the idea that this was made into a movie.?? It should have made it no farther than Kennedy's own television show ""JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.""?? Unfortunately the studio reps didn't do to Kennedy what a crowd of angry club-goers does to B-Rad in the movie. After sucking at a freestyle competition, B-Rad is carried outside and thrown him into a dumpster.??Just as B-Rad continuously states ""Don't be hatin',""?? audience-goers be warned, ""Don't be stupid;"" don't go see this movie unless kidnapped, and even then close you eyes tight and sing a song.
