Hey Folks, Harry here... With Capone and his look at DOWN TO EARTH which he seems to be saying that this is the first pretty tolerable comedy of 2001. After his sterling recommendation... set your hopes high cause this film seems to inspire real passion out of Capone.... read and see for yourself!!!!
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. Last night in this city, there was a much-publicized early screening of Chris Rock's first step into the leading man arena, DOWN TO EARTH. Rock was on hand to introduce the film, but all he did was show up, say "Hi, thanks for coming. Tell you friends if you like it. Enjoy the movie." and whoosh, he was gone. His whole appearance maybe lasted one minute. He probably had to go tape Oprah or something like that. The good news is that the movie is mostly watchable. Here's my review...
A few things about Chris Rock: A) He‚s the funniest man in America; B) He‚s a pretty terrible actor; C) DOWN TO EARTH is his first name-above-the-title feature film, so a lot is riding on Point A, but the risk is high because of Point B. Fortunately, Point A beats out Point B in a photo finish. I‚ve been impressed with Rock‚s more recent work in DOGMA and especially NURSE BETTY, but I attribute his stronger performances in those films to his being surrounded by better actors. In terms of comic acting, DOWN TO EARTH is a step back for Rock.
The first smart thing DOWN TO EARTH does is cast Rock in the role of a stand-up comic, so even as the cliche-driven plot begins to bore us, we‚re treated for 5 or 10 minutes of Rock‚s wonderful routine every 20 minutes or so. Rock is Lance Barton, a below-average comic who gets booed every time he plays the Apollo Theatre. Lance dies after being hit by a truck, or should I say his soul is taken by angels just before the truck flattens him. Turns out the bumbling angel (Eugene Levy, making the most) made a mistake. His heavenly boss, Mr. King (Chazz Palminteri in full mob-guy mode) makes Lance a deal. He will put his soul in the body of another man. Turns out the other man is a 50-something-year-old white billionaire. Everybody sees Lance as this other man, but most of the time we see Lance as Lance.
If this scenario sounds familiar, it should. This is the second remake of the 1941 film HERE COMES MR. JORDAN. Most people remember the first remake, 1978‚s HEAVEN CAN WAIT with Warren Beatty as a star quarterback who is brought back as a millionaire. Much like in HEAVEN CAN WAIT, Rock‚s new body is married to a scheming wife (Frankie Faison from BEST ON SHOW), who is cheating on him with his business partner (Greg Germann from „Ally McBeal‰). They are planning to kill him and technically succeed until Lance‚s soul is dropped into the dead man‚s body. But Lance isn‚t concerned with such things. He‚s in love with a do-gooder named Suntee (Regina King, who has the distinction of being the only person in this film that isn‚t overacting).
Lance also wants to get back into stand-up and decides to try out new material at local black comedy clubs. Normally this wouldn‚t be a problem, but now he‚s an old white guy. And the laughs just keep on rolling. Actually that‚s partly true. As I said, Rock is funniest when he‚s doing his stand-up. The best moment is at the end when he does about 8 minutes at the Apollo. But it‚s sometimes painful to watch him act, especially in the romantic scenes. He looks uncomfortable in front of the camera, and displays the nervous habits of someone who is not used to public speaking.
The biggest problem facing DOWN TO EARTH (as well as numerous other films out right now) is that it‚s PG-13. If there‚s one person that needs to swear on film, it‚s Chris Rock. And in the hands of AMERICAN PIE director and producer Paul and Chris Weitz, you‚d expect it....and you‚d be wrong. Since when does Chris Rock care whether he appeals to middle-America? Who wants a cuddly Chris Rock? It makes me sick. Seeing his squeaky clean stand-up act here made me long for either of his HBO specials. The material in DOWN TO EARTH is funny, but I‚ve seen him do better.
Still, the movie did make me laugh more often than it made me cringe, which is a first for 2001. Rock was also smart to cast some of the regulars from his T.V. show in smaller roles, including the incomparable Wanda Sykes as a wicked housekeeper. I was also shocked to see that it took four people to write this script. It‚s a note-for-note remake of HEAVEN CAN WAIT. You take out the football player, insert the stand-up comic. It‚s not the Magna Carta, people. Bottom line: I laughed and that still has to count for something. But it could have been so much more.
