Down to Earth

How important is it to you that a comedy be funny? Your answer will determine whether or not you enjoy "Down to Earth," a Chris Rock-centric remake of 1978's "Heaven Can Wait." While "Down to Earth" resembles numerous poor comedies in that long stretches of it aren't very amusing, it has cheering, uplifting messages about how to live life which are delivered, for the most part, with appealing sincerity and without excessive sentimentality. It's a genial little film, but unfortunately there's nothing too compelling about it except its geniality.

Still, geniality will get you far, as our current president will attest. Chris Rock is one of our finest stand-up comedians, and his best forays into the cinema have featured him doing standup on some flimsy dramatic pretext. In his first lead role, Rock plays Lance Barton, bike messenger by day and (surprise!) stand-up comic by night. Surprisingly, Barton isn't much of a stand-up comic, but he perseveres because of his intermittent faith in himself and the opportunity he has to impress a good woman, Sontee (Regina King).

All seems to have been for nought when Barton gets hit by a passing truck and an angel named Keyes (Eugene Levy) takes his soul to heaven. However, there's been a mistake: Keyes took Barton far, far too soon. Barton's body is, of course, no longer usable, so Keyes plants Barton in the first mutually agreeable body they can find: that of a health-care magnate whose ruthless hospital management policies just happen to be the subject of Sontee's protests.

Still young and black in an old white man's carcass, Barton has to get used to the idea that he cannot say the "n-word" anymore, or go to Harlem without getting looks. But he also gets to offend his snooty-English-accented colleagues with financially irresponsible notions of social responsibility, throw vast chunks of money at anyone who pleases him, improve his comedy act, and romance Sontee, so it's a good trade. Eventually, everyone learns a lot of valuable lessons about accepting one's fate, appreciating people for who they are, and other useful habits.

Rock does his best acting job ever, which isn't saying much, but he's winningly sincere when he has to be. King makes Sontee an eminently romance-able woman, smart and funny and wise and beautiful in a realistic (i.e., non-silicone-enhanced) way. And the supporting cast includes not only the redoubtable Levy but also reliable Greg Germann, gruff-but-loving Chazz Palminteri and hilarious Jennifer Coolidge.

So why isn't "Down to Earth" funnier? There are several reasons. For one, the density of jokes that you ideally want in a comedy just isn't there; oftentimes there are arid stretches in which you find yourself waiting eagerly for something amusing to happen. Perhaps this would not have been so much of a problem if the above-mentioned supporting cast had been more fully exploited; Levy, in particular, gets almost nothing to do, and if Levy had anything at all to do, he could make it amusing.

Furthermore, much as Barton becomes uncomfortable on stage and ruins perfectly good jokes with stiff delivery, Rock occasionally seems uncomfortable having to make jokes within a dramatic context, and ends up punting what otherwise would have been good lines. The closer Barton gets to Chris Rock, the better off Rock is, as he proves in a few set-piece monologues delivered with all the riotous bite and cunning precision we expect from Chris Rock. These are few and far between, however.

And finally, when Barton inhabits the white magnate's body, we should see more of him acting up in the white man's body. Directors Chris and Paul Weitz recognize that much of Rock's appeal is due to his facial gyrations, and show him in his own body almost all of the time. The outside world, however, sees a huge ugly white guy doing all this stuff, and we should sometimes get to see it too. Rock's spastic rap-along to the Snoop Dogg classic "Gin 'n' Juice" is mildly amusing, but can you imagine what it would be to see and hear the white magnate caressing the line "Laaaaid back, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind"? You would die from laughing, and you'll find yourself regretting that you haven't.

"Down to Earth" is pleasant to watch, notwithstanding its unrealized potential. If you go in without lofty expectations or pre-formed cysts of cynicism, you'll probably feel better leaving the theater than you did entering it. But there will also be a certain disappointment at what might have been. "Down to Earth" is far from hellish, but it doesn't deserve to enter the pearly gates either.

FACTUAL CORRECTION

The worthy individual Victor Pineiro has brought it to my attention that"Down to Earth" was not, in fact, Chris Rock's "first starring role," as I asserted in my review of that film. I had forgotten "CB4," which was a much better film than "Down to Earth" in the sense of being amusing. Although two other reviewers (at least) made the same mistake I did, that just means that three (or more) of us were wrong. We are all grateful to Victor for increasing our stock of knowledge.

Mike Martin, who was never a Spam-O-Maticker but should have been, told me after this review came out that he saw someone reading it and heard this person tell one of her friends, "Oh, he never likes funny movies." I was astonished at this accusation, but what are you gonna do? This just ain't a funny movie, and I didn't like it, really.

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