Directed by John Whitsell, Malibu’s Most Wanted is 86 minutes of superficial humor. The movie is premised on the over-used cliché of white teenagers attempting to live the lifestyle of a rapper. While this concept may appeal to some, it is void of any significance, and quickly becomes repetitive.

The story revolves around Brad Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy), or B-Rad as he likes to be called, who happens to be the son of an ambitious politician Bill Gluckman (Ryan O’Neil). B-Rad is, to put it bluntly, an over privileged white boy, who thinks he’s a black rapper. As such, his behavior threatens his father’s chance of being elected. Rather than confronting B-Rad, Bill Gluckman’s campaign administrator decides to take matters into his own hands by hiring two amateur actors, Sean and PJ (Taye Diggs, and Anthony Anderson) to kidnap B-Rad and show him what the real "projects" are really like.

The movie has intriguing character development, especially B-Rad’s path to discovering his identity. Can he truly relate to his "homies" in the hood, or is he just confused? Diggs and Anderson also add a humorous touch to the movie as they struggle to learn the lexicon and behavior of the streets to successfully "scare the black" out of B-Rad. O’Neil also conveys an intriguing character, as his character Gluckman develops his priorities in terms of family versus politics. Accompanying Diggs and Anderson is Regina Hall, who plays an independent woman trying to make a living. Hall attempts to aid B-Rad survive the ghetto, and is the only African-American character who displays any sympathy for him.

The only other depth the movie retains is its juxtaposition of pop-culture to reality. It is clearly demonstrated that B-Rad’s view of the ghetto is substantially disparate from its reality. B-Rad’s perception is riddled with misconceptions of fun and adventure, but when he witnesses the violence of the streets, that perception soon disappears. There are also brief allusions to class-warfare and racial issues, but they are never discussed fully.

The attempts the movie makes to establish a significant thesis, are thwarted by the sheer silliness of the plot. The concept of a father abandoning his son for votes is rather difficult to comprehend, and the antics the movie contains just further perpetuates this fantasy. Essentially, any depth the movie constructs is short-lived as some form of crude humor interrupts it. For example, in one scene B-Rad makes a point about violence, but then gets shot in the behind by a harpoon gun. Another scene is a reenactment of Training Day, in which B-Rad screams, "King-King ain’t got nothing on me!" while firing twin uzis. This scene fails miserably in trying to stimulate humor as the audience remained silent. In the end, the viewer doesn’t know if the movie was trying to be profound, or parody.

Moreover, this movie cannot hold the attention of viewers for the whole 86 minutes. The plot quickly becomes monotonous as it displays over and over again how B-Rad doesn’t fit into the hood. The film needed more substance, the fundamental storyline isn’t bad, but it isn’t enough for a full-on movie. This shortcoming may be attributed to Jamie Kennedy who co-wrote the script. Kennedy is well-known for his satirical skits, which are broadcasted on his own sitcom on the WB. However, this movie is just a satirical skit, and as such cannot span the full 86 minutes without wearing thin.