I Think I Love My Wife
Chris Rock fucked up my favorite classic Chloe in the Afternoon from Eric Rohmer with his newest film, I Think I Love My Wife, a remake in which he wrote (with Louis C. K.), directed, and starred. Unlike the original character played by Bernard Verley, whose performance came natural, Chris has done his best to look bored, but coming from a standup comedian is hard to believe. In addition, Chris can’t act.
Kerry Washington (who is supposed to be Chloe) is very sexy, but she was not convincing either. I watched the original about five or six years ago and the European-voluptuous Chloe still hovers in my mind when the film was mentioned. There was something about the European lifestyle, the romantic language of France, and unfamiliarity of European women (elegant but have a wild side to them) makes the film seem to be exotic. And that is something Chris has failed to transcend.
I love Manhattan, but it is not a romantic place like Paris. Even though I have never been to Paris, the original movie has captured its mellow vibe. Manhattan is more like a hustling place; therefore, a lunch break in NYC is not an ideal place to fantasize about every woman who happened to walk by like Paris.
The huge flaw in the film is that Chris couldn’t tap into the mind of the married man like what Eric Rohmer had done. In the original, men can relate to what the guy goes through. Every woman on the street is much more interesting than his wife. What if I were married to her (the one with big boobs or the one with luscious lips)? Would my life be any different? Would I still be bored out of my fucking mind?