It's about time Chris Rock gets his own movie. Since being discovered by Eddie Murphy in 1987 and winning a small role in Murphy's "Beverly Hills Cop II," Rock has been one of the freshest and most creative minds in comedy.
But aside from the little-seen "Pootie Tang" and the embarrassing failure "Down to Earth," Rock has yet to have his own starring vehicle.
But now comes "Head of State." Written, directed, produced by and starring Rock, I think we can safely call this effort truly his own.
Rock plays Mays Gilliam, an alderman for one of the worst neighborhoods in D.C. At the beginning of the movie, Gilliam is trying to improve his community in any way he can, whether that involves promising to drive old men to work should the community bus line shut down or saving old women and their cats from condemned houses.
He is the type of public servant operating at the community level, who, as James Rebhorn (playing cartoonishly duplicitous democratic Senator Bill Arnot) repeatedly says, "actually believes he can change things!" (which of course is followed by bellyfuls of evil laughter).
From the beginning we can see that we will not be watching a movie but rather a collection of sketches based around improbable though admittedly funny ideas.
As the script contrives to quickly set up Gilliam as a community hero, we see him enter a condemned house wired with explosives and entice an old woman and her cat out of the house. The two run in comical slow-motion out of the building as it explodes behind them, in the manner of an action flick.
The very ridiculousness of this scene is supposed to be what gets us laughing. We are supposed to roll our eyes in complicit agreement with the filmmakers about the arbitrary conventions of typical Hollywood plotlines.
Instead of laughing at the jokes in the movie, we are laughing at the idea of movies and the hundreds of slow motion shots we have seen of characters running away from exploding buildings in a contrived attempt to establish the "heroic qualities" of our main characters.
The plot moves briskly along after this opening. The Democratic candidate for the 2004 Presidential election has just been killed, along with his running mate when their planes collided over Nebraska, and it is only two months away from election day.
The Democratic party decides to choose an "Everyman" to step into the race. (Though I use the term Democratic party loosely – about four or five well-dressed people sitting around a table make this decision. Apparently it is just that easy.) They choose Gilliam, who has been on the local news for saving the old woman and her cat.
The movie then moves through improbability after improbability. Gilliam makes the attendees of a fundraising ball spontaneously break into the electric slide by playing Nelly's "Hot in Here."
Gilliam makes his campaign bus look like Jay-Z's tour bus and his TV ads look like music videos. Gilliam wears warm-up suits while giving speeches and hires a thug named Mohammed Mohammed Mohammed to be his personal bodyguard.
The obvious questions don't seem to matter (Who's paying for this campaign? Don't voters care that Gilliam knows nothing about politics or how to run a country?), and Gilliam continues to tour the country as his polling numbers continue to rise.
The movie then climaxes in a debate between Gilliam and his Republican opponent on the evening before election day. I won't spoil the ending for you, though let's just say that if you don't already know it, then you either haven't been reading this review or haven't been seeing the same Hollywood movies I've been seeing for the last 19 years.
I'm not trying to say here that Head of State isn't funny. It is funny, at times it's extremely funny, it just isn't a movie. It is, rather, an extended SNL-style skit, and the few times it actually tries to become a movie - for example, the romantic, flirty moments between Gilliam and the inevitable love interest – are the times it begins to bore us. There are no real characters we can relate to here, and so we have no reason to care whether they fall in love, or separate from one another, or jump off a bridge, or whatever they decide to do at all.
That being said, Rock's strong suit has always been his stand-up, and many scenes in this movie reproduce the pleasure of watching him perform in front of an audience.
When Mays gives speeches while campaigning, we see his stand-up persona take center stage. And the final showdown between Mays and his Republican opponent shows Rock at his finest, alone making the rest of the movie more than worth the while.
So Chris Rock hasn't yet gotten his own movie after all. He's gotten a skit, and a funny one, thanks to Rock and the costarring comedians Bernie Mac, Robin Givens and Tracy Morgan (if any of you Princetonians can forgive him for his appearance here last April). Let's hope next time he'll give us a movie.
Head of State opens tomorrow in theatres nationwide.
Read More
Princeton Zoning Board of Adjustment approves renovations to Tower and Charter Clubs
Sena Chang and Isaac BernsteinOn March 27, the Municipality of Princeton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved construction developments for Tower Club and Charter Club. Renovations for both clubs are aimed towards improving accessibility.
On March 27, the Municipality of Princeton’s Zoning Board of Adjustment approved construction developments for Tower Club and Charter Club. Renovations for both clubs are aimed towards improving accessibility.
Students support local businesses with new platform Zage
Jack AllenAfter hearing about the struggles faced by a number of these restaurants after students left campus in mid-March, Dilbagi created Zage, an online platform that allows community members to send money to local businesses now to redeem as credits on their purchases in the future.
This fall, go beyond the 'Bubble'
Dora ZhaoEven though classes are picking up, weekends are the perfect time for students to escape the Orange Bubble. While going out to eat on Nassau is enjoyable, there is so much to see beyond Princeton. For those looking for a day trip or a chance to explore the area outside of Princeton, here is a list of ideas to do this fall.