Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence try to silence a movie reviewer…okay, a blackmailer (Peter Dinklage) in Death.
I review a remake nobody was really asking for, that of Death at a Funeral, at MSN Movies today. Oh my.
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A Rock/LaBute teaming never seemed all that peculiar to me, mostly because Chris Rock once starred in a film directed by, whaddya know, Neil LaBute. It was NURSE BETTY, which I’m shocked to see is now nearly ten years old.
“A LaBute/Rock team-up isn’t as peculiar as it might seem at first…”
Especially since it has actually happened before! LaBute directed Rock in Nurse Betty ten years ago.
When is LaBute going to start doing what he’s good at again: directing films about misanthropes.
Hey, remember that time Chris Rock and Neil LaBute made Nurse Betty? (My, this IS fun!)
That wasn’t Chris Rock in NURSE BETTY – that was Greg Kinnear. Oh wait, no, Chris Rock was in it too. Never mind.
When I clicked on the link to Ebert’s review of this movie (underneath your review) it took me to a 2007 review http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/REVIEWS/70711001 – and not his current review of this movie which is at http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100414/REVIEWS/100419974/1023
I know you likely aren’t the one to contact, but I didn’t see anyone else listed.
Wow, I never thought I’d see Glenn type this:
“Morgan (who for some reason seems able to do no wrong lately)”
Though I suppose some might find Morgan to have a somewhat engaging man-boy quality about him, it’s his input on 30 Rock that has always kept it, for me, from being a truly great sitcom. His delivery is just so telegraphed, so obvious, so mind-numblingly dumb. Any time he’s given a somewhat clever line by Fey and Co., I don’t believe for a second that it would come out of his character’s mouth. And sitting through the trailer for Cop Out a few times in theaters recently was particularly excruciating.
Would you mind elaborating on what exactly you find to be appealing about the guy, Glenn?
Chris Rock is moving from Rohmer to Kurosawa, writing an upcoming remake of HIGH AND LOW.
@ JC: I daresay he’s an acquired taste. As it happens, I find something utterly pop-Dadaistic about his mush-mouthed incoherence, and his non-sequiturs happen to hit my funny bone pretty squarely almost everytime. What can I tell you? As Kevin Smith likes to say, “Humor is really f**king subjective.”
Fair enough, Glenn; I figured “pop-Dadaistic” was where you were coming from, but I couldn’t be sure. Nor am I sure whether Morgan’s entirely self-conscious in his delivery, or truly, undeniably oblivious: his talk show appearances only seem to confuse the issue even more.
Hi Glenn,
I enjoy your blog, having become familiar with your writing as one of the most intelligent commenters and all around breath of fresh air at Jeff Wells’ place.
But one thing, according to producer William Horberg, somebody did ask for this: Chris Rock (http://williamhorberg.typepad.com/william_horberg/2010/04/death-at-a-première.html).