Not Rock solid

HIS CHEATING HEART: Chris Rock

by MATTHEW HAYS

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should get this out of the way up front. I love Chris Rock. I think he’s the funniest stand-up comic to come along in at least a generation. His reflections on race and sex in America are daring, hilarious and brilliant.

But whether or not his brilliance as a stand-up comic can translate into solid directorial skills is a whole other question. And sadly, I Think I Love My Wife—despite a great set-up and good source material—doesn’t really live up to a hardcore Rock fan’s expectations.

Rock stars as a successful businessman with a gorgeous wife and two sweet young kids. It’s a model life, one indicative of the burgeoning black American middle class, but, as Rock’s voiceover indicates, his marriage has become excruciatingly boring (i.e. sexless) and his eyes are forever wandering. Before you think that Rock is delving into the stereotype of the African-American male tendency towards infidelity, be warned that in fact he’s remaking French new wave director Eric Rohmer’s Chloe in the Afternoon (1972). Rock will never act on any of these temptations around him, of course—he’s just fantasizing. But then the sultry, slutty Nikki (Kerry Washington) shows up at his office, a few years after breaking up with one of Rock’s buddies. She gets seriously flirtatious with Rock, repeatedly asking for favours and batting her eyelashes at the man—so much so that his workmates are convinced he’s having an affair.

What a strong start this film had. There were some great gags, good Rock voiceovers and banter between African-American professionals in which Rock seemed to be showing us one slice of black life through Woody Allen glasses.

But the script for I Think I Love My Wife begins to wander after about the first third and never really recovers. There are some too-silly gags and plot twists that are so unreasonable as to test our credulity. And it’s really a drag, because there was a funny, sharp movie wanting to bust out here, a movie that never really ends up happening.

I Think I Love My Wife opens Friday, March 16

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