A couple weeks ago, I went with two of my sons to see the new Chris Rock movie "I Think I Love My Wife." I'm a Chris Rock fan. I think he is one of the best stand-ups around today. I'm also a big fan of the TV show he created and narrates on the CW Network ("Everybody Hates Chris"). But this movie does not rank high on his list of career accomplishments.
"I Think I Love My Wife", which Rock starred in, co-wrote and directed, is based on a French movie and something was lost in translation.
I thought I was going to go to a romantic comedy about a man faced with the temptation of cheating on his wife. Instead, I found myself watching a movie about a man who's not having sex with his wife, so he's tempted to have sex with someone else. From the get go, it was a movie about sex and not love (my gosh, have I started becoming an enlightened male or what?). In addition, when we finally reach the climax (of the story, people. Get your minds out of the gutter), it isn't thoughts of his wife that keeps him from straying, it's the thought of his children. I guess this is why the title is "I THINK I Love My Wife", because the film ends without my really knowing whether he does or not. I know he loves his children and he loves his life, but his wife? He loves having sex with her, but as to love, the jury's still out.
To be fair, there are several parts of the movie that are laugh out loud hilarious. As I look back on it, though, I was struck by something. The absolute funniest parts of the movie didn't have anything to do with what Chris Rock was doing on screen, it was what he was saying as the narrator, which is one of the things that makes "Everybody Loves Chris" one of the best sitcoms in years. This film proves through the narration what a great stand-up Chris Rock is. He still doesn't have the knack of making me laugh as an actor.
I KNOW I love MY wife!
I hate to admit it, but I've started this blog because I just saw the end of the movie "Bring It On". I missed most of the movie, but what I saw in the last 15 minutes of the film was enough for me to once again witness an overused contrivance that I wish Hollywood would just make go away- the use of the "play by play broadcast" or "Public Address Announcer" to move the plot along. I say this as someone who started out in life wanting to be a sportscaster and play-by-play announcer.
While it's true we adopt a "willing suspension of disbelief" (a term I learned in Theatre Appreciation class) when we go to the movies or a play, there are limits for all of us. For me, it's the use of the play-by-play announcer in sports movies.
In a very few movies, it works beautifully. I have no problems with the movie "For Love Of The Game". Play by play was an integral part of the movie, it was done realistically and even honored the game. I also had no problems with "Major League". While Bob Uecker's character could never get away with saying some of the things he said in that movie if he were actually on the air, the gist of what he was doing was spot on. No, what gets me is when, like in "Bring It On", they use the PBP announcers to move the plot, saying things like, "Wait, what's this that they're doing? Can it be possible? Yes it is!" It is so contrived it makes me nauseous.
What it really says is "We don't trust you to get what's happening without our telling you." Even a respectable sports movie like "A League of Their Own" falls into the trap on occasion with the character of the Public Address Announcer. Have you ever been at any game to hear a PA announcer say things like "I can't believe what Dotty Hinson's doing!" or things to that effect? Fortunately, that movie was good enough to survive the mundane PA announcer to be reasonably entertaining. But the worst, the absolute WORST of the sports movies are the kids sports movies.
From "The Mighty Ducks" to "Hockey Night" to "Ladybugs" and just about all of the same genre in between, there is one thing in common. Almost every one of these monstrosities features the teams working their way to the championship and somehow there's a play by play announcer there, even during the regular season. Come on, get a clue- NOBODY BROADCASTS CHILDRENS LEAGUE GAMES UNLESS IT'S A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
For that matter, it's just as annoying to see the newspaper montage talking about these little darlings' winning streaks. Unless you live in a real small town, at best a local newspaper might publish Little League standings, but not much more than that. I understand some of these movies are actually made for a kids' audience and they probably get a kick out of imagining a one of their games actually being broadcast on the radio or TV. But if you have to have them there, the least you can do is let the characters act like real PBP or PA announcers, and not just use them as a cheap way to narrate and advance the plot.
I KNOW I love MY wife!
