Chris Rock is growing up. In his new film, I Think I Love My Wife, he attempts to incorporate his inimitable shtick into a more traditionally respectable format than, say, Pootie Tang. He winds up with something like Lost in Translation on Viagra.
Rock's sex-starved character Richard Cooper is a Manhattan investment banker by day and a Westchester husband and father by night. While he is forced to stave off the sexual advances of a coquettish old friend (Kerry Washington), he must also save his failing marriage (to Gina Torres) and his deteriorating work at the office and, in the end, decide whether he really does love his wife.
While the film, co-written and directed by Mr. Rock, represents a new stage in the career of the talented stand-up comedian, many rough edges remain. Rock attempts various unorthodox narrative devices, much like Woody Allen in his breakthrough Annie Hall, but less successfully. The film's climax - in which the characters belt out their frustrations in song - is especially jarring. While there is enough of Rock's trademark ranting and raving to provide laughs, he has more difficulty dissecting the film's sociological aspects. The film is front-loaded with race jokes, which vanish after approaching saturation point midway.
Rock's treatment of his own disenchantment is likewise problematic. Despite her lack of sex drive, Torres's character is a loving, sensitive wife, and is would far more desirable, even to people with unflaggin libidos, than Washington's immature, grating would-be mistress. As a result, Rock's pursuit of her rings false. On the other hand, Rock has a great deal of (platonic) chemistry with Steve Buscemi, who turns in a delightful performance as a philandering colleague. Overall, the film is entertaining enough in spite of its pitfalls. But if he wishes to establish himself as a potent force in "message" comedy, Rock will have to move past trite sex jokes, among other marks of greenness.
