I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE d: Chris Rock
I Think I Love My Wife (2007)
Director: Chris Rock. Screenplay: Chris Rock, Louis C.K. Cast: Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres, Steve Buscemi
In case you’ve just wrapped up your wedding rehearsal and you plan on taking your future spouse to a movie, make sure to avoid Chris Rock’s latest one-man vehicle I Think I Love My Wife. This fairly depressing story about a married man bored out of his mind is nothing but a simplistic drag about the lows of marriage and the secret desire to be single again.
Loosely based on Eric Rohmer’s 1972 French comedy L’Amour l’après-midi / Chloe in the Afternoon, I Think I Love My Wife stars Rock as Richard Cooper, a wealthy New York City investment banker who claims he leads a perfect life until finally admitting that his seven-year marriage to Brenda (Gina Torres) is both tedious and sexless.
Deprived of any attention and passion at home, Richard concludes that “no matter how much you try to look the other way, temptation is always staring you in the face.” Thus, he spends his lunch breaks at Saks observing other women.
Richard finds himself fighting temptation when he bumps into his old friend Nikki (Kerry Washington), a young, attractive chain-smoker who regularly shows up at his office and helps him rediscover the fun side of life. Of course, Richard forgets to mention any of this to his wife Brenda, a lapse that can only lead to trouble.
I Think I Love My Wife marks Rock’s second attempt to score a hit as actor, screenwriter, and director, following his well-received political satire Head of State. Sad to say, I Think I Love My Wife lacks the sophistication that is required when approaching the complex theme of marriage; instead, the film persistently points out the stereotypical view that marriage obstructs a man’s access to personal freedom.
Throughout it all, Rock takes only the male side, justifying a married man’s right to peek at and fantasize about other women due to the omnipresence of temptation. Consequently, the plot suffers from unimaginative repetitiveness: Richard meets Nikki; Richard has the time of his life; Richard goes home to his boring wife; Richard struggles not to commit adultery.
I Think I Love My Wife tries to take itself much too seriously, but it offers us nothing we don’t already know. The screenplay, which Rock co-wrote with Louis C.K., lacks both laughs and depth. It does, however, include a couple of misplaced oddities, such as a ridiculous sequence in which a post-Viagra erection forces Richard to call an ambulance.
Chris Rock may be an excellent stand-up comedian and a decent actor, but in I Think I Love My Wife his performance is worse than unfunny — it’s lifeless. Gina Torres and Kerry Washington face a similar predicament with their non-roles.
In this age of high divorce rates, many people might indeed relate to the crisis depicted in I Think I Love My Wife. But for their own sake, this reviewer can only hope they will not follow Chris Rock’s way of thinking.
© Franck Tabouring
SXSW Film Festival Awards - 2007 Winners
Miami Film Festival Awards - 2007 Winners
Anita Pallenberg’s PERFORMANCE
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