“What if you died and were reincarnated into another person’s body?” is such a compelling idea for a film that it has been made 3 times. Starting on the stage, Harry Segall‘s play, Heaven Can Wait — to not be confused with the 1943 Ernst Lubitsch movie that shares its title however has nothing to do with the play — follows a boxer mistakenly despatched to the afterlife who’s given one other likelihood at life by taking on a useless individual’s physique. Segall’s play bought a movie adaptation, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, in 1941, starring Robert Montgomery and Claude Rains. At the peak of his fame, Warren Beatty made his directorial debut by remaking the movie with the namesake of the unique play, which earned him Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture nominations on the Academy Awards. Now misplaced to time, on the top of his fame, Chris Rock remade Heaven Can Wait for a brand new technology. Down to Earth is a remake to its core, disinterested in breaking new floor, but it surely does characteristic aan spectacular supporting forged of stars.

Down to Earth (2001)

This comedy follows Lance Barton, a struggling comic who dies prematurely in a automobile accident. Given a second likelihood, he’s despatched again to Earth within the physique of a rich, older white man. As Lance adjusts to his new life, he discovers sudden challenges and alternatives, resulting in humorous and heartfelt moments as he pursues his goals.

Release Date

February 16, 2001

Cast

Chris Rock , Regina King , Chazz Palminteri , Eugene Levy , Frankie Faison , Greg Germann , Jennifer Coolidge , Wanda Sykes , John Cho , Mario Joyner , Bryetta Calloway , Martha Chaves , Brian Rhodes , Herb Lovelle , Mark Addy , Michael Port

Runtime

87 Minutes

Main Genre

Comedy

Writers

Chris Rock , Louis C.Okay. , Lance Crouther , Ali LeRoi

Studio

Paramount Pictures

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Chris Rock Has a Distinct Comedic Presence in ‘Down to Earth’

In 2001, Chris Rock could not have been Warren Beatty, a male intercourse image who was equally succesful as a matinée idol as he was an mental and curious; however he was arguably America’s prime stand-up comedian. His HBO comedy specials, Bring the Pain and Bigger & Blacker, have been seismic occasions. Thanks to his stint on Saturday Night Live, Rock additionally had a foothold in movie and tv. With Down to Earth, he would channel his blunt and observational stage persona into a movie whose supply materials requires a sentimental contact. Directed by Chris and Paul Weitz, the brothers behind American Pie, the film follows a struggling comedian, Lance Barton (Rock), whose demise is prematurely orchestrated by an angel from heaven. King (Chazz Palminteri), portrayed because the “manager” of heaven, sees potential in Lance and reincarnates him into the physique of a rich white enterprise mogul, Charles Wellington III. In his drastically altered life, Lance is decided to win the love of Sontee (Regina King), a politically energetic lady protesting towards Charles’ immoral actual property practices.

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When Lance appears at himself within the mirror, he’s nonetheless the identical individual: a younger black man. To the surface world, they see Charles Wellington. This helps settle any writing or casting dilemmas, in addition to creates a sequence of zany hijinks for Lance due to Rock’s model of racial observational humor. In a situation everybody watching noticed coming, Lance as Charles sings alongside to DMX‘s “Ruff Ryder’s Anthem,” solely to be punched for singing lyrics off limits to white individuals. When Lance is getting acquainted along with his new physique, he performs round along with his voice-controlled tv and learns that, regardless of having practically each channel at his fingertips, Charles’ cable package deal, unsurprisingly, will not be subscribed to BET (Black Entertainment Television). With the general public unsuspecting of Charles’ physique swap, he evolves from a grasping billionaire who denies individuals of underprivileged communities medical care to a philanthropist who rails towards the immoral nature of capitalism.

The Star-Studded Cast of ‘Down to Earth’ Makes Up For Its Creative Shortcomings

Down to Earth, which met with adverse evaluations upon launch in 2001, will not be horrible by any means, however it’s principally forgettable, besides concerning its stacked forged. Reuniting with the Weitz Brothers are American Pie alumEugene Levy because the bumbling angel, Keyes, who mistakenly killed Lance, and Jennifer Coolidge as Charles’ spouse, who efficiently killed her husband till Lance was reincarnated into his physique. Rounding out the forged is Wanda Sykes as a maid within the Wellington home, Frankie Faison as Lance’s supervisor, and Mark Addy as a butler posing as British to stick to the expectations of an aristocratic servant. As the angel overseeing the Westernized reincarnation course of, Chazz Palminteri brings his slick wiseguy persona from A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway to the King character. However, it’s Oscar-winner Regina King as Sontee, in a comparatively thankless function because the love curiosity, who shines amongst this deep forged. She matches Rock’s comedian timing at each step and reveals conviction in her political activism and love for Lance/Charles that nobody might’ve anticipated on this broad comedy. King is so charming with minimal assets that you simply want she had been given her personal film.

Down to Earth will not be the farcical journey its poster and logline point out. Compared to Albert Brooks‘ afterlife-set romantic comedy, Defending Your Life, which satirizes American beliefs by means of the lens of individuals proving themselves worthy of returning to Earth, the Weitz Brothers’ movie swiftly strikes previous its partaking premise within the purgatory neighborhood to get Lance inside Charles’ physique. The film, for higher or worse, is heartfelt, or at the very least it tries to be. Rooted in a Frank Capra-esque narrative arc of a person hoping to redeem themselves, Lance will not be solely attempting to make it massive as a comic book along with his second likelihood, however he’s additionally reforming Charles’ unpopular fame by talking with a candor unexpected in nefarious actual property tycoons. Rock, who has dabbled in dramatic/style fare as of late, struggles to evoke emotional gravitas each time he is pleading to Sontee or talking out towards the hypocrisies of Charles’ earlier enterprise practices.

How Does ‘Down to Earth’ Compare to Warren Beatty’s ‘Heaven Can Wait’ and Similar Comedies?

Throughout the movie, Chris Rock sprinkles in witty banter and eager observational remarks about society, serving as an extension of his acquainted stand-up routine. While Down to Earth is a remake of a remake, the idea of a black individual being free from prejudices by inhabiting the lifetime of a wealthy white man would’ve killed on stage, due to Rock’s boisterous and impassioned supply. However, the set-up is generally a surface-level gag that does not mirror something profound or hilarious about race relations in America. Scenes the place Rock is reprimanding his enterprise companions for denying individuals well being care are harking back to Dave, the Kevin Kline body-swap comedy set contained in the Oval Office, the place Kline’s Dave Kovic, standing in for the incapacitated President, approaches coverage and legislature by means of a purely idyllic lens. Where Kline’s honest conviction permits the Ivan Reitman movie to be a captivating pastiche experiment, Rock has one foot within the parody realm, and one other in mawkish comedic melodrama.

Down to Earth‘s shortcomings are most obviously exemplified compared to the 1978 movie, the place Warren Beatty performs Joe Pendleton, a quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams who’s transferred into the physique of a multi-millionaire industrialist. Heaven Can Wait, co-directed by Buck Henry and co-written by Elaine May, has actual comedic panache with insightful commentary on Beatty’s star persona. Regarded as one of the good-looking actors of the time, Beatty should study to succeed with out counting on his appears. He holds the display patiently whereas Rock’s efficiency is at all times in a rush to get to the following comedic set piece. Heaven Can Wait correctly balances basic Hollywood sentimentality with New Hollywood sardonic wit.

For what it’s, a Chris Rock studio comedy, Down to Earth is a pleasing viewing expertise, having sporadic laughs and an sudden coronary heart, but it surely fails to dwell as much as Warren Beatty’s endearing fantasy comedy. With so many well-known faces on display with comedic and dramatic pedigree, nonetheless, chances are high that you will latch on to one thing to understand.

Down to Earth is presently obtainable to stream on Max within the U.S.

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