National Security (2003 film)

National Security is a 2003 American buddy cop action comedy film, directed by Dennis Dugan, and starring Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn. The supporting cast includes Bill Duke, Eric Roberts, Colm Feore, and Matt McCoy.

The film was released in January 2003, and grossed over $50 million worldwide at the box office. It was shot at various locations in Greater Los Angeles, including Long Beach and Santa Clarita.

Plot
Two LAPD policemen, Hank Rafferty and Charlie Reed, investigate a warehouse heist and discover a gang of thieves, one of which kills Charlie before they escape.

Meanwhile, Earl Montgomery's lifelong dream to become a police officer is thwarted when he flunks police academy for accidentally causing an explosion. Hank receives a warning from Detective Frank McDuff after interfering with the investigation of Charlie's death. Hank crosses paths with Earl when he notices Earl trying to get into his car after locking his keys inside. When Hank questions Earl, Earl race-baits Hank to the brink of getting himself arrested. A bumblebee comes along, to which Earl is allergic, causing him to panic. From afar, it appears as if Hank is brutalizing Earl when he is actually attempting to shoo the bee away by swatting it with his baton; a man catches the incident on videotape. Because of the incriminating evidence and a spiteful Earl lying about the accused brutalizing, Hank is terminated from the police force and charged with aggravated assault against Earl. He is sentenced to six months in prison.

After being released, Hank takes a job as a security guard and continues investigating Charlie's death. Noticing an alarm being tripped at a soda warehouse, Hank goes to investigate. Earl, who is working for the same security company, is on duty at the warehouse but is slacking off. Hank interrupts the heist, and a gunfight erupts with the thugs, during which Hank and Earl cross paths again. The two give chase to the thieves but are pulled over by the police for speeding.

One of the thieves drops a cell phone, which leads them to a semi-trailer truck. Inside the truck, Hank and Earl find the thieves' van. Earl tries to hotwire the van but accidentally triggers the alarm, alerting the thieves. After a brief shootout, Hank and Earl drive the van out of the truck and escape. Inside the van are what look like ordinary beer kegs; Hank has them examined at a foundry, where they learn that the kegs are actually made of an atomic aerospace alloy, which is worth millions. Hank takes the van and the kegs to the house of his ex-girlfriend, Denise. They broke up after Hank was arrested, and Hank asks Earl to tell Denise the truth about the "assault". Earl promises, but when he sees that Denise is an attractive black woman, he breaks his promise and starts hitting on her, playing the victim again. This causes another fight between them, and Denise kicks both of them out. After a heated argument, Hank punches Earl in the face, before storming off. Later, the pair is cornered by police, learning that they are suspects in the earlier shootout. They escape and Hank realizes that the thieves must have an inside man in the police department.

That night, the pair trace the van's owner to an address and stake out the place, but Earl rushes inside on his own and is confronted by the thieves. Hank arrives just as Earl is shot in the leg, and before escaping, he recognizes one of the thieves, Nash, as Charlie's murderer. When Hank takes Earl to Denise to get his wound treated (which turns out to be simply a graze), a bee flies into the house and Earl runs for cover, making Denise realize that Hank's story about the "assault" on Earl was actually true. She punches Earl for lying and reconciles with Hank.

Based on something overheard from Nash, they follow him to a meeting at a yacht club and witness him talking to McDuff, who is revealed to be Nash's inside man. Hank and Earl share everything they know with Hank's former boss, Lieutenant Washington, and then pretend to approach McDuff, offering to sell him back the "beer kegs" for $1 million. However, Nash learns about their plans and takes Washington hostage first. During the confrontation the next day, Earl and Hank meet with McDuff, Nash, and their men near the coast, rescuing Washington and accidentally starting a shootout, but the trio manage to kill or apprehend most of Nash's gang, including McDuff. Hank is shot, but he survives and kills Nash by dropping a nearby crane's lifting hook onto an unstable slab of rock that Nash is standing on, catapulting him into the ocean.

Six more months later, in honor of their heroic actions, Hank is reinstated in the LAPD and Earl is admitted to the force, and they are made partners. The two encounter a situation similar to where they met, in which a man is apparently locked out of his car. Earl helps the man but learns that he is actually a thief. He successfully stops the thief by shooting at the car, but the vehicle explodes soon after.

Cast

 * Martin Lawrence as Earl Montgomery
 * Steve Zahn as Hank Rafferty
 * Colm Feore as Detective Frank McDuff
 * Bill Duke as Lieutenant Washington
 * Eric Roberts as Nash
 * Timothy Busfield as Charlie Reed
 * Robinne Lee as Denise
 * Matt McCoy as D.A. Robert Barton
 * Brett Cullen as Heston
 * Mari Morrow as Lola
 * Leslie Jones as Trucker Woman (Britney)

Music
The main songs are:
 * "Silly" - The Warden
 * "One of These Days" - Wu-Tang Clan
 * "95 South" - Cool Ade
 * "All Good? - De La Soul
 * "N.S.E.W." - Disturbing tha Peace
 * Fruko y Sus Tesos ("El Preso")
 * Graveyard Soldjas ("Don't Start None")
 * The Warden ("Silly")
 * Petey Pablo ("Blow Your Whistle")
 * De La Soul featuring Chaka Khan ("All Good")
 * Tracy ("One More Try")
 * Barry White ("Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe")
 * Fingaz ("Baby")
 * 95 South ("Cool Ade (Extended Mix)")
 * Lil' O ("Ay Yo")
 * Bathgate ("Bump That")
 * Damian Valentine ("Revolution")
 * Disturbing Tha Peace ("N.S.E.W.")

Critical reception
The film was poorly received by critics, receiving a rating of 11% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 88 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "The action in National Security is mindless, while the humor says nothing insightful about racial issues."

Joe Leydon of Variety wrote that "Despite some tasty contributions from Lawrence and Zahn, too much of National Security has the bland flavor of microwaved leftovers," and Tom Long of The Detroit News wrote that the movie was "loud, crass, dumb and then even dumber." John Monaghan of the Detroit Free Press highlighted what he saw as an "off-putting" racial subtext that made him unable to enjoy the movie.