_Down_to_Earth_ (PG-13) ** (out of ****)
There's no denying that Chris Rock is a funny man. On the stand-up stage, he blazes, eliciting many a large laugh with his fierce mix of rage and joy. But one thing few would ever say about Rock is that he's a great actor. This is not to say that he's an especially bad one, for he has been effective in small roles in _Dogma_ and _Nurse_Betty_. It's just that one doesn't exactly equate "lead movie star" with him, and his flat starring vehicle _Down_to_Earth_ doesn't do anything to change that perception.
Part of the problem is that he is never quite able to completely shake off his stand-up persona. Granted, on screen he displays the same charismatic presence he has on stage, but the barking line delivery and cadences of his stand-up delivery also carry over, which makes it difficult to separate Rock from the character he's supposed to be playing. _Down_to_Earth_, a remake of 1978's _Heaven_Can_Wait_ (which itself was a remake of 1941's _Here_Comes_Mr._Jordan_), makes an obvious attempt to ease the transition by casting Rock as Lance Barton, a stand-up comic. This, however, just makes matters worse; whenever Lance takes the stage and does his act, we see Rock (who happened to co-write the script and recycle some of his own material), not the character of Lance.
The plot, as it is, has struggling stand-up Lance suffering an untimely death in a traffic accident; apparently, this was a mistake, so an angel named King (Chazz Palminteri) quickly gives Lance another body--which, unfortunately, is that of just-deceased billionaire Charles Wellington. Lance negotiates this to be a temporary arrangement, but he has second thoughts when he meets activist Sontee (Regina King), whom Lance manages to successfully woo while in the body of the much-older white man.
Rock and King manage to generate some charm together, but their romance is often lost amid easy fish-out-of-body jokes (there is not only one, but two, scenes of Lance bumping to rap music, forgetting he's in the form of a portly old white man) and boring subplots, in particular one revolving around Wellington's scheming wife (Jennifer Saunders) and her lover (Greg Germann), who also happens to be Wellington's right-hand man.
_Down_to_Earth_ was directed by Chris and Paul Weitz, but this film doesn't display any of the antic spirit of their last film, _American_Pie_--not even during the stand-up sequences that should be comic high points. But just at fault, if not more, is Rock, who fashioned a less-than-ideal project for himself. When someone wants to see a Chris Rock comedy, one wants to see him R-rated unleashed--not so much in terms of profanity than his intelligently biting adult humor. In _Down_to_Earth_, not only has his edge been smoothed over, so has his smarts.
©2001 Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com | mrbrown@iname.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://www.mrbrownmovies.com CinemaReview Magazine: http://www.CinemaReview.com on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL Instant Messenger: MrBrown23
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