Down To Earth * *1/2 out of * * * * Starring: Chris Rock, Regina King, Eugene Levy, Chazz Palminteri, Frankie Faison, Mark Addy, Jennifer Coolige, Greg Germann. Directed by: Paul and Chris Weitz Running Time: 87 Minutes Rated PG-13: sexual humor, language.
Good natured comedies are sometimes a rarity. Most comedies out in the past year have either been raunchy (Road Trip), Stupid (Dude, Where's My Car), or just plain bad (Urban Legends: Final Cut...wait that wasn't a comedy). Its nice to know that some filmmakers out there still make these good natured comedies, and Chris Rock's new vehicle "Down to Earth" is one of them. It's funny, but also at the same time has a sweet side to it, and in the end delivers a good message.
Lance Barton is a struggling comedian, he wants to be at the Apollo and perform his comedy and not be booed off the stage (his nickname to his friends is Booie). On his way home from a bad show, he is hit by a truck when he sees a beautiful girl while riding his bike. He arrives in Heaven just in time, of course not realizing what happened, he thinks he is dreaming. Convinced by Keyes (Eugene Levy) and King (Chazz Palminteri) that he is indeed not dreaming, he finds out that Keyes took him 42 years early. For the mistake they tell him he can go back to Earth in another person's body, and live their life. The body he chooses is a older man by the name of Charles Wellington.
Wellington the 15th richest man in the world, is having a problem however, his wife is cheating on him, and his wife and her love (his personal secretary) just tried to kill him. To add to the muck, Charles has died and Lance has taken over his body. Now as Charles Wellington, Lance must fit in, in the world and try to convince the love of his life Sontee (a person very angry at him) that he is in fact someone else.
Many of the jokes in Down to Earth work, however some do not, and fall flat on their face at times as well. The acting is one of a mediocre scale, Chris Rock who I think is a better comedian than actor does a good job in the main role as Lance Barton, Regina King is sexy and realistic as the love interest, Eugene Levy and Chazz Palminteri make a great comedic duo as the angels. The standouts however are the maids and servant of Charles Wellington. Mark Addy of "The Full Monty" fame, does a great job playing his personal servant comedically named Cisco. Wanda Skyes plays Wanda, the loud mouthed but inside sweet maid is very funny.
Chris and Paul Weitz directed a little teen movie in 1999 that went on to make $102m domestically. That little film was "American Pie", and now two years later they are back, directing a comedy is hard to do, because you don't need any fancy camera shots, or special effects. "Down To Earth" really doesn't have any of these, but the direction however is good, the actors all do the right things, and the major flaws come from the story and the overall tone of the film. It doesn't seem as funny as one would want it to be, and story is at times pretentious.
Besides these flaws, "Down to Earth" is a clever little comedy, that is a remake of the Warren Beatty classic "Heaven Can Wait". In the end, its worth the watch, and worth sitting through its (too) short running time of only 87 minutes, cramming in everything it can.
Reviewed by Brandon Herring 2/25/00.
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