MOVIE REVIEW : Pinkett the High Point in ‘Low Down Dirty Shame’

Although humorous and energetic, “A Low Down Dirty Shame” is about as routine as a private-eye action-adventure can get, but it does have a secret weapon: Jada Pinkett, a feisty and funny comedian, as witty as she is pretty, who lights up the screen. She has already been seen to advantage in “Menace II Society” and “Jason’s Lyric,” having established herself in TV’s “A Different World,” and she’s the best reason to see this film.

She has been cast as Peaches, secretary extraordinaire, at once sassy and devoted to Keenen Ivory Wayans’ Andre Shame, a seedy L.A. private detective, an ex-cop down on his luck. Things seem to be looking up, however, when a DEA agent (Charles S. Dutton) hires Shame to track down $20 million in missing drug money. At every inevitably convoluted turn, Shame is going to need Peaches’ endless resourcefulness and spunk.

Wayans, who also wrote and directed the film, seems to have overreached. He’s fine directing others, but could have used some guidance and reassurance in his own portrayal. He has presence but seems self-conscious and uncertain in a role that ranges from the serious to the comic, with plenty of action and a little romance thrown in. What works best is Shame’s slow realization that it’s Peaches who’s worthy of his love rather than Salli Richardson’s glamorous Angela, his lost love, newly resurfaced and about as reliable as Mary Astor’s Bridget O’Shaughnessy in “The Maltese Falcon.”

As a writer, Wayans might well have started telling his story earlier, since so much of it has already happened by the time the picture actually begins. Dutton, Andrew Divoff as a key heavy and others shine in support. Smartly produced and certainly lively, “A Low Down Dirty Shame” is diverting while you’re watching it, but you’re liable to start forgetting it by the time the end credits start to unroll.

* MPAA rating: R, for violence, strong language and brief sexuality . Times guidelines: Its violence and language are standard for the genre.

‘A Low Down Dirty Shame’

Keenen Ivory Wayans: Andre Shame Charles S. Dutton: Rothmiller Jada Pinkett: Peaches Salli Richardson: Angela Andrew Divoff: Mendoza A Buena Vista release of a Caravan Pictures presentation. Writer-director Keenen Ivory Wayans. Producers Joe Roth, Roger Birnbaum. Executive producers Eric L. Gold, Lee R. Mayes. Cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti. Editor John F. Link. Costumes Francine Jamison-Tanchuck. Music Marcus Miller. Production designer Robb Wilson King. Art director Richard L. Johnson. Set decorator Lance Lombardo. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.