Title: I Think I Love My Wife
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Cast: Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, …
Director: Chris Rock
Release: (2007)
I Think I Love My Wife is basically a traditional [2-b] structure with a few experimental [a] elements. Chris Rock plays Richard Cooper, a married man stuck in a rut with his wife (Gina Torres) and struggling to resist the temptation he sees all around him everyday. His effort is not particularly helped by the return of an old flame (Kerry Washington) to town who is fresh off a break up and nostalgic for the spark they once had together. As Richard tries to convince himself that he is only comforting a friend in need, as any good friend would, he continues to tempt fate by letting himself creep closer and closer to the point of no return with both of them. Rock’s character is also the narrator, providing insight into Cooper’s thoughts as he looks around at all the beautiful women licking their teeth at him everywhere he goes. Throughout the movie, his no-holds-barred narration teaches us that men and women are different in all kinds of hilarious ways. And for some reason at the end he tells us to be sure to tip our waitresses, though I’m not sure why Cooper would be thinking that.
While most of his stand-up efforts are funneled into the narrator dialogue (which is why this is technically a [2-b]), Rock experiments here with some [a] elements by giving a few of the supporting characters his own jokes to tell. There is one scene in particular where Cooper and his wife are having dinner with another couple (played by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and IMDB’s Cassandra Freeman) that is literally just a round-robin recitation of Rock’s “Drugs, Donuts & Wealth” bit off his Never Scared album. As the camera circles around the group, it’s like they’re just passing around a transcript of this bit under the table, each picking up where the last person left off. Apparently he thought the reason his previous efforts to fill movies with his own regurgitated bits didn’t drive more box office was because there wasn’t enough of it, so now in this one everyone’s dialogue is Bigger & Blacker.
I like Chris Rock and I really am rooting for him to get over the hump with his movies, but it’s just depressing to see him keep trying to fit this square peg into that round hole. I know he’s smart, I’ve heard his routines. So that’s why it continues to baffle me that he doesn’t learn more from those around him. Contemporaries like Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, and those who came ahead of him like Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, just to name a few. What do these former SNLers turned megastars have in common? They all had their greatest successes and broke through to major movie stardom with characters. Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Wayne Campbell, Austin Powers, Ron Burgundy, Ricky Bobby, Axel Foley, Sherman Klump, Ray Stantz, Elwood Blues, Jake Blues, John ‘Bluto’ Blutarsky, Ty Webb, Fletch, Carl Spackler and Peter Venkman – all breakout characters created originally and specifically for movie roles, all now a part of movie history. Any of those names ring a bell, Chris? Now how about these: Lance Barton, Lee Butters, Jake Hayes Mays Gilliam, and Richard Cooper – all the interchangeable and forgotten characters created as empty vessels for your recycled material, all now a part of your IMDB page. Chris, please, you can do better than this. Or at least I still keep hoping you can.
Grading
Story: C-
Acting: C
Visuals: C
Originality/Innovation: F
Enjoyability: C-
Overall: C-
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