I know I didn’t love “I Think I Love My Wife.”
It may be a remake of Eric Rohmer’s wispy, charming French romantic comedy “Chloe in the Afternoon” (1972). And the filmmaker may claim, as he has in interviews, that this is his attempt at making a “personal” grown-up film in the style of Woody Allen. There’s only one problem: The director, co-writer and star of today’s marital ennui farce is Chris Rock.
Now, nobody beats Rock on the stand-up stage. He’s raw, nervy, incisive and very funny when he’s bleating about race, celebrity, sex and unholy wedlock in his act. Unfortunately, his ability to craft droll wisecracks — and there are a few good zingers in the dialogue here — only goes so far within the confines of movie narrative. Especially when there are no delightfully bewildered French people pouting or idiosyncratic Manhattan intellectuals being neurotic while delivering them.
No, the man who gave us the dreadful “Head of State” may say that his favorite film of all time is “Annie Hall.” But that doesn’t make him an auteur or a film actor, even when given a promising premise like this one.
Playing too far against type, given the bombastic comic’s limited range, Rock plays bored, nerdy investment banker husband Richard Cooper. An old friend’s selfish but very sexy ex-girlfriend Nikki (“Last King of Scotland’s” Kerry Washington at her most sultry) shows up at his office one afternoon, and on many subsequent ones. Richard can’t help but be tempted by her attentions. He’s vulnerable to being sucked into Nikki’s chaotic world, the movie tells us, because Richard’s beautiful suburban wife Brenda (Gina Torres) is too much into being a homemaker and mom to want to give him sex anymore.
Because of the lack of density of the characters as written and the inconsistent direction, which sometimes seems more about forcing out laughs than letting the humor evolve naturally out of the uncomfortable situations, you never believe that the protagonist Richard would be so easily manipulated by the obviously underhanded femme fatale here.
Even the inclusion of a couple of great veteran character actors in small roles, Steve Buscemi and Edward Herrmann, can’t elevate a sporadically amusing and well-intentioned but ultimately strained attempt by Rock to roll into new territory.
‘I Think I Love My Wife’
2/5 stars
Starring: Chris Rock, Kerry Washington, Gina Torres
Director: Chris Rock
Rated R for pervasive language and some sexual content
