February 15–22, 2001

movie shorts

Down to Earth

In this remake of Heaven Can Wait, Chris Rock plays a stand-up comedian whose life’s ambition is to play the Apollo Theater without getting booed off the stage. But before he gets the chance, he’s hit by a truck and a helpful angel (Eugene Levy) whisks his soul off to heaven ahead of Rock’s set "time." Heaven’s Head Angel (Chazz Palminteri) grants him a loaner body, that of a wealthy white man whose wife has tried to kill him. With mucho money and an aging, soft, white body, Rock maintains his Chris-Rockness, meaning the primary joke in the movie is that other characters are responding to the white guy acting "black." There’s a limit to this joke, but the movie remains blithely unaware of that. The fabulous Regina King plays Rock’s infinitely patient and sensible love interest.

—Cindy Fuchs

(See Cindy Fuchs’ interview with Chris Rock.)

(UA Cheltenham; UA Riverview)