Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat (2002) User Reviews

Not very funny

[HulkVader · 4/10 · 12 January 2003]

It is not uncommon for a celebrity to be faced with the proverbial "wake-up call". And, should they survive this event, they come to a deeper understanding and appreciation of their particular good fortune. However, in the case of comedian's, they are rarely as funny after their epiphany as they were prior to it. Such is the case with Martin Lawrence. Frankly, I pay little attention to celebrities as I have much better things to do with my life than to spend it monitoring others'. So, I was unaware of the majority of what Lawrence had gone through prior to this film. It was interesting but, unfortunately, all too common. I was left with the larger impression that this guy's stand-up act just wasn't very funny. Save the big life messages for a book, just be funny on stage. If you want to see a funny Martin Lawrence, go rent some of the old Def Jams for which he hosted.

Don't rent Runteldat.

Go see Notorious C.H.O. instead

[wastebot · 5/10 · 16 August 2002]

As a movie, their is minimal sound and visual FX. The soundtrack, though it has some great music, it feels like you're listening to it in mono (even if you're in the middle of a THX, Dolby surround capable theater). This is really sad when you consider this is an MTV production.

The story, Martin's routine, is pretty much the same old stuff. If you're really into "black" comedy, you will get some laughs out of Martin's performance. Especially about his hospital stay. But it's not worth paying for. It should have been a cable special. For me, the funniest part is listening to a Jesus-boy (that's you, Martin) swear, talk about sex, marriage, and relationships, and doing drugs.

Not funny!

[caspian1978 · 4/10 · 30 November 2003]

The title of Martin Lawrence's concert should have been: I'd like to Thank Jesus! Starring Martin Lawrence Call me crazy, but a stand up comedy concert should be funny. Don't get me wrong, Martin told some jokes, but not after he gave a monologue of why Jesus is God, you can be forgiven, crime is bad, drugs is bad, race is equal. Sure, be like Richard Pryor and throw a moral out to the audience may once or twice during the show, but every five minutes? You So Crazy was a heart attack of laugh out loud funny 90 minutes. This piece of garbage was something Martin did for a pay check and something he can leave behind to his grandchildren to make him look like a super guy. Enough said...

Crude, basic and mostly unfunny show that will appeal to Lawrence's least demanding fan

[bob the moo · 7 November 2006]

I had heard positive things about this concert film and had hear that even those unimpressed with Lawrence's films had to give him props. Although I have found his films to be puerile and unfunny more often than not I somehow find him personally to be pretty amusing in his delivery. So in a way I was quite looking forward to this film. Things didn't look that good early on as the film opens with a look back over the recent media controversy surrounding Lawrence and is essentially him putting two fingers up at all those who have, in his eyes, unfairly criticised and picked on him. It is embarrassing to watch as he seems to be telling us that the attention given him (as a global celebrity) is somehow unjustified.

I hoped this would just be the build-up under the credits and that the show would be a solid piece of stand up. Unfortunately he continues early on with him announcing he would tell his own story and so on but at least he soon got over it. But when his next topic was 9/11 I wished he had stayed where he was because in reality this section was nothing more than Lawrence racially attacking Muslims for all looking like Bin Laden and even a joke about how he had beaten up an Indian man behind stage just in case. He segues from this into the importance of beating your child (and indeed waiting for it outside the vagina so you can start kicking it then), material about sex after pregnancy (including a piece about "titties" that makes Benny Hill look like Oscar Wilde), bad drunks and the humour of domestic violence. Suffice to say that not of it is that funny and is about as basic as you can imagine.

By covering all this type of material Lawrence shows himself to be very much a base comedian in that his material appeals to an audience raised on sitcoms, swearing and who nod their heads and laugh uncontrollably at the most basic stereotypes and race clichés. His racist jibs are squarely aimed at every other culture apart from African-American, whereas with that group he seems to enjoy the failings of his culture. With people like Chris Rock and such you get it that they are critical of such things but with Lawrence he celebrates it. His material is predominately crude and tasteless, whether it is sexist, racist or just so broad that at times you sense he is close to losing some sections of the audience. Contrasting this with moments of trite insincerity just makes it even worse. There is no denying that he has good presence and runs the stage well but it is disappointing that he seems happy with such basic material.

Overall then a real disappointment of a show. The material is as basic as could be and rarely has any touch of invention or genuine wit across it. His audience mostly lap it up and I suppose those that have loved his recent films will love it – however the majority of us should not be taking their enjoyment as a recommendation. Crude and basic stuff throughout and only worth a look for those die-hard fans of Martin's brand of comedy.

Truly Awful

[zofos · 1/10 · 4 October 2008]

I saw this late at night on a minor channel and I put it on expecting a laugh or two. Martin Lawrence is a good comic actor and I reckoned he might be a good stand-up comedian/actor in the style of Richard Pryor.

I couldn't have been more wrong. This concert was awful. It was full of racist comments directed at white people, Muslims and people from India (Muslims and Indians are the same thing in Lawrence's narrow mind) and rambling, clichéd cod-philosophy (Lawrence, like many black comics and directors, can't resist the urge to preach when given a platform. Do we really need a lecture on Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights struggle during a stand-up comedy show?). Then there were his fawning comments designed to ingratiate him with women, it made my skin crawl listening to him.

Worst of all, the show simply wasn't funny and I found it boring. I turned over halfway through and flipped back to find him either still preaching or going on and on and on about the birth of his child (there was no humour in the story of the birth of his child and it was self-indulgent on his part to bore us with the details. He clearly didn't have very much to say or he would have cut this section of the show out).

This show was rubbish: Runteldat!

More embarrassing then overdosing in public in his undies.

[Nick Zbu · 1/10 · 29 December 2005]

Martin Lawrence could be considered a talented man, but those days are long gone. Runteldat shows a man who at once tries to play the sympathy card to his plight yet takes responsibility for it whenever he thinks it'll benefit his ego. The sad truth is that at this point in his life, his best days were behind him: his half-funny show was dead in the water after his co-star left and to today he faces a career of voice acting and god awful action films.

One gets the impression that this concert film wasn't made to give Lawrence's career another boost after his humiliation but rather a childish attempt to clear the air by both trying to pathetically salvage what remained of his life and somehow twist it into something to be proud of, some defining moment in which he showed himself to have 'earned' his fame. Sadly, the concert is nothing but a gravelly-voiced Martin incoherently trying to be funny, invoke pathos, and then claim he doesn't care about it at all because hardcore. The sad truth is that this is the real public embarrassment for Lawrence: the way he rambles on invoking sad pity laughter makes you wish that he would just strip down to his underwear on stage, wave a gun around, and just reenact it all over again. There is no real insight to his performance at all. Much like the childish title states, Martin is trying to make his ultimate moment of truth his own in his way and fails miserably. He would have been better off waiting for the E! True Hollywood Story instead of running on a stage and making an idiot out of himself for the second time.

Perhaps the saddest thing about this concert film--or rather, career eulogy--is that Martin didn't put any thought into this. What was this film supposed to prove? Sadly, that his fame was fleeting, he was a flash in the pan before the underwear incident, and now that the only way he can get work is piggybacking Will Smith or a Pixar production. They might as well called this concert 'Tombstone' because that's what it is. Martin Lawrence just dies on stage here, and with it goes what could have been an interesting career. Now? Just a pathetic side note in history.

I'm here to stick up for this film

[Agent10 · 7/10 · 8 August 2002]

While films about one night of stand-up have never pleased me, I rather enjoyed this raunchy yet self lambasting piece of work by Martin Lawrence. While joking about his life, he also jokes about love and child birth. Lawrence's salty language proves to be nothing more than a colorful backdrop to his overall message about life. Sometimes you get kicked while you are down, but you can always get back up from the trials and tribulations of life. If you can look through the language, Lawrence's physical antics on stage make this film worth watching.

Oh how I wish I could get that time back again......

[Diaboliqa666 · 1/10 · 30 April 2005]

I usually really like Lawrence and being in Australia I haven't seen much of his stand up, so when I saw this at my video shop I thought, yeah I'll have a look. I wish I hadn't seen it now. Obviously Lawrence had a profound experience that opened up his mind, and I guess he wants to share this with others but this was neither the time nor the place.

This whole experience seemed like a motivational speech in hell, it really did. I believe the catch phrase of the night was "ride it until the wheels fall off" which he intermingled with just plain lewd jokes revolving around sex and sexual organs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind crude humor, but Lawrence lacks the gift of classing it up in the fashion of Eddie Murphy, Richard Prior or Robin Williams. Lawrence was just plain lewd, the only time I laughed was when he relived his experience with the law and his recovery in the hospital. If there were minus points, i would give them....

Criticize this...

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 17 October 2011]

Martin Lawrence explains in the first few minutes of his comedy special dubbed Runteldat that he isn't waiting for E! True Hollywood to tell his s***, but is going to tell it in his own words and his own personal experiences. I normally say that some concert and stand-up films that go to theaters aren't really that special enough to go theatrical - but I think Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat posses a strong enough reason for such an honor.

"Runteldat" is a slang term for "run and tell that." While it's not spoken throughout the whole film, it has a certain meaning to it which makes it worthy of the title choice. Lawrence is basically telling the audience members "now that you know the true story, run and tell that!" The special was shot at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., and was directed by David Raynr. Raynr directed the seldom-seen Whatever it Takes which was truly a mixed bag of comedy and drama elements. Runteldat is also number eight on the list of films that uses the f word most frequently, clocking in at three-hundred and eleven uses. I, for one, am not offended by vulgarity if it is taken in a new and non-gratuitous manner. It may seem like nothing but unnecessary language, but once you get past it, the film becomes a pleasure and the vulgarity adds to the fun of the whole picture. After a while, you adapt and it becomes an unobtrusive quality.

Martin talks about every from sex, to drugs, to crime, to cops, to 9/11, the news, the media, and even the Cha Cha Slide and why he "can't stand that f****** dance!" The first seven minutes are devoted to a montage on Martin lashing out at the media. The message is unclear because I can't really see what they did wrong. They were reporting on him because he was arrested. Why is he getting mad? I don't know. The whole attack seems tiresome and drawn out, but once Martin gets a hold of the mic - anything goes.

When talking about critics, he says that can "criticize deeeez nuts!" When talking about the Cha Cha Slide he says "STOP! Think about it." One of my favorite sketches is when he talks about the way blacks and whites react to getting pulled over. I'm white, and while I think I was supposed to be offended or insulted, I couldn't contain my laughter. When a film makes you think offensive material against yourself is hilarious - I can't help but give it the highest compliment I've given a comedy special.

I'm not easily offended because I feel that Martin isn't being racist as much as he is proving a point about how distant blacks and whites can be sometimes. If I found out he was being honest? I'd probably still laugh seeing as he has the gall to admit something like that. It's a win-win for him.

Another skit that was fabulous was when he discusses the differences between black and white parenting. He uses an example when a kid insults his mother, the mother sends him to timeout for "emotional issues." He claims if you said that to a black mother, your timeout would be picking up your teeth, your molars, and getting your foot out of some place.

Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat is a comedy special of epic vulgar proportions. I can't sum it up to a solid degree. This isn't the raunchiest or best that I've seen, but since Lawrence has done a number of kid films it's nice to see him step up to the mic revealing his dirty side. I couldn't help but applaud at the end. The ambition and courage it took to get on the mic and say what he just said deserves some kind of award.

Performed by: Martin Lawrence. Directed by: David Raynr.

Raunch, Raunch, Hilarious Raunch...

[andyrichterismissing · 7/10 · 5 August 2002]

My best friend isn't exactly a fan of Martin. In fact, he sort of

despises Martin. While this year I did cover his cover his

Christmas presents with pictures of Martin, I knew I could still milk

his dislike of Martin for my own devious enjoyment. And when I

heard there was a Martin stand-up concert film coming out, I knew

I had to make my move. It felt so perfect, and with the commercials

featuring pretty much just Martin making goofy noises and being

generally kind of annoying, it just sweetened the deal. And I had to

transpire to somehow force my friend into seeing Martin's film.

With the Mel Gibson alien movie sold out, my dream came true.

We saw Martin. But something suprising happened, we both liked

it. Aside from a somewhat lubrigious opening, with phony news

broadcasts about Mr. Lawrence's crazy exploits, came the

stand-up, and it was damn funny. And incredibly raunchy. Oh the

raunch indeed. My friend didn't go for all the raunch, ( I did, it's

pretty funny...), but he did indeed laugh a lot. At Martin. So, it turns

out that Martin is actually funny. So see this film, you'll laugh, or as

Martin would say, ride this mutha till the wheels fall off!

Disgusting and sad

[chharmander · 1/10 · 14 September 2009]

It's the single unfunniest thing I ever watched. It's sad how he tries so hard to come up with a good joke and all he does is curse and thinks his disgusting vulgarity is funny. He is the most bitter person I ever saw. His whole act he is trying to show how much he doesn't care, and by that only showing how much he's angry at the critics and the people with any taste and sense of humor who'd rather go through immense torture than go watch his "show". There are good comedians, there are bad ones and there are horrible ones. But this guy is in a league of his own. I feel sorry for him and even more for the people who find him funny.

My Man Martin at his best

[fabfemfatale · 10/10 · 28 August 2003]

From the man who gave us you go girl/boy, wazzzup and talk to the hand, comes the comedy of a genius. He takes us into his world and explains what exactly happened - TRUTHFULLY. He tells it like it is, but with great humour. For me first it was Richard Pryor, then Eddie Murphy, now it's my man Martin. He speaks of one of the best documentaries ever filmed, Eyes on the Prize and talks fondly of his namesake, the late-great, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fine, he may say f*** alot, but he's very passionate and that word is for the passionate to express themselves. Def Jam's original host made me laugh, cry and cheer. I recommend to all of you who want a good laugh and don't have too many hang ups. Bring us some Mr. Lawrence.

Extremely crude at times, but delivers the laughs

[mattymatt4ever · 7/10 · 26 May 2003]

After watching Martin strike out three times in "Blue Streak," "What's the Worst That Could Happen" and "National Security," I'm glad that this film came out to prove to audiences that, yes, he is still funny. The problem is, and this is not uncommon among many comedians/actors, when he's given a script (especially a poor one) he hams it up to the extreme and simply comes off as brutally annoying. When using his own material, he feels much more secure, and as a result he's much more funny. His on-stage energy is incredible, but unfortunately like many concert films it drags at times. It's hard not to make a concert film drag, since you're stuck staring at the same set and same actor for nearly an hour and 30 minutes. When you're part of the live audience, you're better able to capture his intensity, which makes the experience more enjoyable, but engaging a movie audience with this material is more of a challenge. That's why I was interested in the commentary, in which the directors and producers explained all the work put into making the film. Before hearing the commentary, I didn't know there was much work put into these types of films, but they spend lots of time choosing which camera angles to cut to, maintaining continuity, framing shots while Martin constantly maneuvers around stage and choosing how to neatly splice together material from each of the two concerts.

Despite Martin's journey into PG-13 territory with his most recent films, I didn't forget that he does indeed have an amazingly filthy vocabulary. So I was prepared for excessive profanity and explicit sex talk. But there are moments where he goes way too far, and comes off as merely crude and disgusting. Nevertheless, I laughed a good deal, and I don't understand the extremely low IMDB rating. And despite all the crudeness, Martin does deliver some good morals. I liked his motto: "Ride this motherf**ker 'til the wheels fall off," pertaining to how you live your life, savoring every moment and not giving a crap. His other motto, "No one is immune to the trials the tribulations of life," is also memorable and full of meaning. Martin may be criticized heavily for his run-ins with the law, but what does that say? That all other comedians are saints? Even the supposedly morally correct Bill Cosby has vices of his own. No one is perfect. No one's life is a bowl of cherries. Martin confessed his sins, and now it's time to move on.

Finally, I liked the fact that Martin's act wasn't filled with the hackneyed black people/white people cracks I was negatively anticipating. If your money got sucked down the drain by buying tickets for Martin's lame recent comedies, then "Run Tel Dat" is definitely worth seeing, because the guy DOES have talent. And don't let these crappy films fool you.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

Bad taste - no fun

[andrewerik · 3/10 · 20 January 2003]

Martin Lawrence is not a funny man i Runteldat. He just has too much on his mind and he is too mad which trips his puns pretty early in the game. He tries to make fun of critics, which boils down to "f*** them". Then he goes on to rather primitive sexual jokes on smokers with throat cancer and it just goes downhill from there. 3/10

garbage....what else can I say?

[rmart99 · 18 January 2003]

I like Martin as an actor. He has the ability to be funny. But what was he thinking about when he made this nonsense? I laughed mabye 3 times during this embarrassing performance. Martin seemed to be saying whatever came to his mind as he went, no type of flow. I have no problem with the profanity because when used right, it adds to the humor. But using "M*\_}rF_=*r" every other word doesn't take away from the fact that the material is weak. Then he also started with the "Let's give it up to the ladies" routine to try to gain support for his tired performance. And what was up with the slow pace? Bad enough the gag he's telling isn't funny, but now he want's to drag it out, as if he's waiting for more laughs. I had alot of high expectations for this movie. I was expecting to laugh, not wince. If Martin wanted to answer the critics, he shouldn't have 'wrapped' it up in a movie marketed as a Comedy, and have his fans pay the price. I give this movie NO STARS. Next time I hope he leaves the old, old routines at home and hope he actually practices before he performs.

God awful

[Pablox2 · 1/10 · 22 February 2011]

Martin Lawrence is possibly the most annoying person in the universe. He is certainly the most annoying person ever to stand on a stage in front of a live audience. How anyone, black or white, can find him even remotely funny is way beyond me.

Words can't describe how unfunny he is. He swears constantly, talks like the cookie monster on crack, and is completely out of touch with reality.

This show is as funny as getting cancer and HIV at the same time.Ig you are considering spending money on this abomination, i suggest you save your money and instead punch yourself in the face for an hour. That would give you more amusement than this.

Almost Pryor like in this performance

[dg43s · 10/10 · 7 August 2002]

If you are a fan of stand up comedy; good blue stand up this is a must see. Martin took his time to state his views in a manner that was awsome. This was like therapy for him telling his story after going through major tragedy. Reminds me of Richards (Pryor) act he did after his setback and the fire. Great comics take what most people probaly couldn't deal with on a personal level, especially admitting to down falls and turn it into laughter for the world. Kings of Comedy watch out Prince Marty Mart is back and can rule if you let him.

Vulgar, Hilarious and Insightful

[renchloctc · 8/10 · 9 August 2002]

Okay there was a lot of foul language. What do i care? i swear like every other second and so does everyone else. Some people are vulgar and use shock value to get a reaction. Martin Lawrence is vulgar and say shocking things but it got a huge laugh out of me. The way he talked about the male and female lower anatomy was sick and funny as all hell. He makes faces that make you laugh. Sure he stereotypes white people like a lot of comedians do but it was funny. He talked about his personal life and i enjoyed that. I smiled throughout the performance. 8?10

Not even worthy of a smile

[homerjsimpsonn · 8 August 2002]

This recent stand-up movie of his was expectedly as piss-poor as his previous, i.e. "You So Crazy".

Martin Lawrence is easily one of the most annoying personalities to be recorded on film. Not only is he a lowsy actor to begin with, he's incredibly irritating to watch. His stand-up act is simply unbearable because it's nothing but Martin Lawrence and his embarassing way of talking. He overdoes everything. Every gesture, every word, is overly-black! He thinks he can be funny by acting black and talking black, almost as if he equates "blakness" with humor. (Chris Rock gets away with this because his content is actually funny to begin with.)

For God's sake, THE GUY IS NOT FUNNY!!!! I didn't even crack a smile once during the nearly two-hours of his agonizingly stupid, unwitty stand-up routine.

Marty Mar at his best

[DunnDeeDaGreat · 9/10 · 3 August 2002]

Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat is Martin going back to his comic stand up roots and man o man is the film funny. Martin touches on everything from sex, 9/11, racism and marriage in his own way. The jokes are right on target and Martin leaves no stone unturned. If you wanna see a great find stand up film this see one.

A Comedy Classic!

[NYKMarin8161 · 10/10 · 7 August 2002]

Runteldat received a lot of horrible reviews from critics and the commercials don't really do a good job persuading people to see Runteldat. Me being a fan of Martin Lawrence I went to see Runteldat. If you saw You So Crazy a early concert film by Martin Lawrence Runteldat would be You So Crazy times two. Runteldat was a great comeback film for Martin Lawrence. After receiving bad press for films such as "Black Knight" and "What's the Worst That Could Happen?" he returns with a great stand up film.

He immediately tells the crowd how he feels about critics and gives some messages to people in trouble and then there is the comedy. Wheter it is about a woman giving birth, a drunk with high emotions or the 9 11 drama it will make you laugh. It has the whole package. This was a really good movie and to see Martin's comeback was even better.

very funny and enjoyable

[michaelsibley416 · 6 September 2004]

"Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" caught me by surprise because I don't usually find myself enjoying this genre. "Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" is funny, engaging, insightful and crude; "Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" contains all of these and I can finally say I have seen Martin Lawrence at his best. If you are a person who enjoys great comedy, Martin Lawrence or just curious about the comedian; "Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" is for you.

"Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat" opened my eyes to this type of genre and made me want to rent other comedies like this. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did.

NOT FUNNY!

[da5car · 7 August 2002]

I love standiup comedy. I liked Lawrence when he was doing stand-up and I liked him in early "Martin" episodes.

Martin is no doubt a very funny guy, so I was ready to laugh when I went to see "RUNTELDAT."

LAUGH is something I never did. I sat, and I sat, and I sat... quietly waiting for his act to turn funny... but it never did. I will admit I smiled a few times, but I never laughed. And it is not hard to make me laugh.

Actually, I didn't hear anyone in the theater laugh either. Finally, I thought to myself... I'll give this about 10 more minutes and I'm walking. I walked.... I could suffer through it no more.

It seemed like a fourth grader wrote his material. If he could lose the language, he'd have an act that the Nikelodeon crowd would go nuts over.

I wanted Lawrence to make me me laugh, not tell me a story about how bad he's had it or how low he has been. A good portion of his material was just a big f--k you to everyone that has been mean to him. It was more like watching a therapy session than watching a comedy routine.

If you are looking to laugh, go to Blockbuster and rent Jamie Foxx's new DVD "I Might Need Security."

It's funny as hell and you won't be disappointed.

Sad, very very sad.

[cold_defense · 24 June 2003]

************Potential Spoilers Ahead********** Martin Lawrence has absolutely lost it. He seems worn down, lacking his usual energy throughout this live show. I think his health problems have taken their tole, or if not, then I think he may have been neutered. This was an obvious rip off of Eddie Murphy's Raw (talk about losing it), but it was truely the least funny and most embarrassing live comedic performance I have ever seen. The crowd was going crazy as he was introduced, but within the first two minutes of the show you could feel the energy being sucked out of the room. Usually the comedian energizes the crowd. Martin takes himself way too seriously now, as demonstrated by the introduction scenes where it felt more like a boxer getting ready for a fight. He must have used up all his energy backstage, because he just flat sucked once he started the show. I felt sorry for Martin throughout. I loved Def Comedy Jam and You So Crazy, but those times are long gone for Martin. He has certainly lost his edge and should hang it up.

OK - nothing special

[nitemare21 · 16 August 2002]

Martin was funny..at times.. but sometimes it was just mildly entertaining. no new jokes, nothing that will knock you off your seat. The best part was about his own life incidents. I didnt realize how near death he was. Recommended only to the hard core Martin fans.