Movie Reviews

Review in a Hurry:  Chris Rock cowrites, directs and stars in this dramedy about a husband with a wandering eye. Seriously, what can't the guy do? (The answer: Import existential comedies.)

The Bigger Picture:  I Think I Love My Wife is based on the French New Wave film Chloe in the Afternoon, and it's translated here perhaps a bit too literally. Bored investment banker Richard (Rock) is stuck in a midlife crisis: his marriage is in the couples-therapy doldrums, his career on a plateau. When a fine-lookin', flirtatious college friend (Kerry Washington) turns up and asks Richard for some unusual favors, he embarks on a (mostly) platonic affair that makes him wonder: Do I really love my wife?

This is the sort of question that Rock could answer incisively and hilariously onstage in about ten minutes. But the decision to tepidly underplay Richard is Rock misapplying himself; it turns out the only thing someone with Rock's comedic chops can't do onscreen is nothing.

It's disappointing and more than a little boring to see Richard struggle apathetically with his dilemma for an hour and a half, especially since I Think I Love My Wife feels much longer than that.

With Rock too wrapped up in his button-down character to have any fun, the supporting players (Gina Torres, Edward Herrmann, Steve Buscemi) have to pick up the slack, and apart from throwaway running gags they don't have much to work with.

Washington's sly, seductive would-be homewrecker is a decent performance, but since she's the only character who might be more unsympathetic than Richard, it's hard to enjoy it. Fans of Rock's blunt stand-up act might find some things to love about I Think I Love My Wife, but they'll never be in love with it.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  Eric Rohmer, who made the French original, essentially made this same story into a film six times in a row, so Rock can be forgiven one indulgence. And while I Think I Love My Wife isn't faithful to the letter of the original, it definitely matches its spirit.