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Verdict: A decent, disposable Lawrence vehicle.

Details: Starring Martin Lawrence. Rated PG-13 for action violence, continual profanity and some crude humor. 1 hour, 33 minutes.

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Review: A good cop solves a crime by thinking like the perpetrator. Given that logic, it makes sense that a real-life criminal would make a terrific policeman. He can look at a crime scene and see exactly what went down, while the officers around him are still scratching their heads. That's the playful idea behind "Blue Streak," a decent, disposable Martin Lawrence vehicle. It never gets maximum mileage from its crook-as-flatfoot premise, but it stirs up decent laughs and action.

Martin plays Miles Logan, a thief newly sprung from two years in lockup. When he goes to the then-construction site where he stashed a $17 million diamond, he discovers the finished building is the new Los Angeles Police Department. Which means that he has to infiltrate the station masquerading as a cop in order to track down the missing rock, located somewhere in the AC vents.

Miles not only succeeds in his charade, he keeps accidentally doing the right thing, catching crooks and becoming a hero to his erstwhile enemies, the cops surrounding him. (It's a comic reversal of the current "In Too Deep," starring Omar Epps as an undercover cop dangerously drawn to the drug figures he's trying to bust.)

"Blue Streak" doesn't ask big questions about identity. It's basically a series of quick skits, letting Lawrence bluster and give free rein to his spastic dances of victory or frustration. Director Les Mayfield throws in enough action scenes to mollify audiences who can't get enough gunfire and breaking glass. While it doesn't exactly streak along, at 93 minutes "Blue Streak" gets the job done.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service

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