‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die’ Should Be Martin Lawrence’s Oscar Moment

Nearly 30 years after the release of Bad Boys, rebellious cops Marcus (Martin Lawrence) and Mike (Will Smith) are back in the franchise’s fourth installment, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, now in theaters. And while most of the attention may be on Smith (especially in the wake of the infamous Oscar slap), it should be on Lawrence, who delivers the greatest performance of his career. And it’s not just a great performance—it’s seriously Oscar-worthy.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die finds Marcus and Mike still working as cops but settling into the next phase of their lives—they’re simply not the young, spry warriors they once were. The plot follows the attempted framing of Mike and Marcus’ former police chief Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano), and the Bad Boys’ extraordinary efforts to exonerate him. There is no end to the shenanigans that co-writers Chris Bremmer and Will Beall throw into the mix, giving Lawrence, in particular, an endless array of scenarios to show us his exceptional talents. While he’s always been a beloved actor and comedian, Ride or Die allows Lawrence to bring everything he’s done so well over his career into one spectacular role.

This comes across in the film almost immediately. Marcus has always been passionate about snacks, and the first scene of Ride or Die has Lawrence playing it up to delirious heights. While driving to an important destination, Marcus has heartburn, and implores Mike to stop at a corner store for ginger ale. Given a tight 90-second deadline, Marcus flings himself out of the car to grab a bottle. This should be a mere throwaway, a brief flash that gets us from point A to point B, but Lawrence immediately makes it into something more substantial. Employing a frantic, childlike (or maybe Homer Simpson-like) wonder, Lawrence plays Marcus like a kid in a candy store, eyes flush with amazement, mouth quivering with delight.

Read more at The Daily Beast.