Blue Streak was released theatrically by Columbia Pictures on September 17, 1999 and opened as the number one movie in North America. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, it went on to gross nearly $120 million at the worldwide box office against a $36 million budget.[2] The film's soundtrack album, featuring a number of popular urban/hip-hop artists, was certified platinum.
Plot
Jewelthief Miles Logan participates in a $17 million diamondheist in LA with his crew: his right hand and best friend Eddie, getaway driver Tulley, and Deacon, a newly acquired member of the group. Deacon turns on them, killing Eddie by shooting him off of a tall building and causing him to fall onto a police car, before attempting to take the stone from Miles. As the police arrive, Miles hides the diamond in the ducts of a building under construction; as Deacon flees, Miles is arrested.
Released from prison two years later, Miles attempts to reunite with his girlfriend. She breaks it off as he lied about being a criminal, which prompts him to retrieve the diamond. Miles discovers the building where he hid the diamond is now an LAPD police station and goes inside. He realizes the diamond is hidden in the ducts of what is now the Robbery/Homicide detective bureau, which requires a key card to access.
Miles returns disguised as a pizza deliveryman, steals an access card and visits his forger Uncle Lou. The fake badge and transfer papers allow him to pose as newly transferred police detective Malone. While trying to access the ducts, Miles inadvertently foils a prisoner escape, and so he is teamed up with newly appointed Detective Carlson.
Miles' planned quick in-and-out mission to retrieve the diamond ends up becoming a prolonged endeavor as he gets sent out on calls. Miles' knowledge on criminal activity and ability to foil crimes makes him quite popular among his "peers,” even getting promoted to detective in charge of the Robbery/Homicide division.
When Miles and Carlson are first sent on a burglary call, he quickly solves it as fraud perpetrated by the owner. On the ride back, they stumble upon an armed robbery being committed by Tulley. Miles intervenes, arresting him before he's shot, but Tulley demands $50,000 to keep quiet about who Miles really is.
Miles again attempts to locate the diamond, but is interrupted by Carlson, who has discovered he is not who he claims to be. Convincing him that he is from Internal Affairs, Miles tries to get back to searching for the diamond, but they are sent out on another call. While out, they capture a truckload of heroin.
Afterwards, Miles finds the diamond in the evidence locker but accidentally drops it into the load of seized heroin. The FBI demands the heroin for testing. In panic, Miles suggests the FBI and his unit use it as bait in a sting. He arranges to be with the heroin in the delivery truck, but is soon joined by Tulley, whom he had set free from holding, and Deacon; during the drug deal, Deacon exposes Miles as a cop to the drug runners. While Miles and Tulley attempt to distract them, the police and FBI raid the deal. Deacon escapes with the diamond in an armored truck and the police and FBI follow as he approaches the border to Mexico. The US authorities are forced to halt their pursuit at the border, but Miles steals a patrol car and chases Deacon.
Miles forces Deacon to wreck the truck and offers him a deal: give him the diamond and let him arrest him in exchange for Miles cutting him back in on the diamond. He agrees, and Miles immediately double-crosses him by handcuffing him to the wrecked truck for the Federales and begins to walk back to the border. Deacon draws a gun to shoot him, but Miles turns and shoots him dead, avenging Eddie's death.
Miles walks back to the border where both the FBI and police demand explanations; he tells them he is an undercover Mexican officer and has to report back to his fellow Federales. At a few inches from the border, Carlson and Hardcastle stop him, revealing they know who he really is, but do not arrest him as they are grateful for all of his help and see him as a friend.
They point out the FBI cannot reach him over international borders, as he is technically still in Mexico. Sharing a bittersweet goodbye, Miles heads off into Mexico with the diamond.
The film opened at #1 with a weekend gross of $19,208,806 from 2,735 theaters for a per venue average of $7,023.[3] It ended its run with $68,518,533 in North America, and $49,239,967 internationally for a total of $117,758,500 worldwide.[2]
Critical reception
Blue Streak had received mostly mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 36% "Rotten" rating based on reviews from 69 critics and an average rating of 4.80/10. The critical consensus reads: "Martin Lawrence lends his comedic touch, but the movie isn't much more than standard action-comedy fare."[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 46 out of 100 based on 26 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Gene Seymour of the Los Angeles Times described the film by saying that "it starts out like a caper flick that shifts, almost by accident, into an episode from the old Martin TV series [until] eventually, it settles for being a bleached, cluttered photostat of Beverly Hills Cop, if only a bit more clever than the original."[7]Lawrence Van Gelder of The New York Times also compared the film to Beverly Hills Cop, and stated that "in this instance, the buoyancy is only intermittent."
[8]
Roger Ebert praised the film, giving it 3 stars out of 4 and writing: "Martin Lawrence is a comic actor with real talent, not always shown to best advantage. Bad Boys (1995), his cop buddy movie with Will Smith, was not a career high point, and it took a certain nerve to make another one. But Blue Streak works."[9]
Sequel
There were plans for a sequel to Blue Streak, but the sequel did not materialize.[10][11][12][13] A legacy sequel was announced on October 25, 2024.[14]
^"Lawrence on a Hot Streak". ABC News. October 20, 2000. Blue Streak 2 would re-team Lawrence's criminal character with cop Luke Wilson in the time-tested 48 Hours buddy formula.
^Rebecca Ascher-Walsh (February 6, 2001). "Cut It Out. Plus, plans for a Blue Streak sequel". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2020. Blue Streak screenwriter Steve Carpenter has just handed in a script for the sequel
