10. I Think I Love My Wife
I Think I Love My Wife is probably the best movie Chris Rock has had the chance to star in so far. It`s a lightweight adaptation of the French Chloe in the Afternoon, but it`s by far more insightful and funny about the crisis of modern marriage.
There are a lot of frank, wacky talk about sex, but the movie is not after cheap or easy amusement. At best, it`s reminiscent of Woody Allen, proving that Chris Rock still has plenty of opportunity ahead of him to grow in the industry.
The Story
Chris Rock stars investment banker Richard Cooper whose life has become pretty much as boring as his name. His life sounds perfect, he has a beautiful wife, he loves his job and he loves his kids, but there`s only one little inconvenience: he`s bored out of his mind. The problem is none other than the lack sex. His wife doesn`t want it anymore, and since Richard is nowhere near dead, he does.
Although he doesn`t show it, his mind is constantly drifting towards sex to get him through the mind-numbing banality that has become his life and even though he had no intention to cheat on his wife, things get complicated when he runs into his drop-dead gorgeous old friend Nikki. From that point onward, his life is turned upside down as it becomes increasingly difficult to refrain himself from acting on his impulses.
This movie is totally rising above others from its genre. The story is well written, the jokes are smart, and the a plot is developing fast enough to keep you interested. The story is funny because you can see Richard getting deeper and deeper into trouble and you know where this is going, but even so, the plot manages to overstep the boundaries of predictable and give you a real treat to watch.
9. Our Family Wedding
Our Family Wedding is the perfect idea for a comedy. You can expect that a wedding between a Mexican-American and an African-American to lead to a tug-of-war between the two cultural backgrounds.
We`ve all seen movies about a marriage between an African-American and a white woman or about a white man marrying a Latin woman, but while putting those two cultures together might seem a bit exaggerated, the movie lives up to its promise and it has some moments of authenticity. However, the heart of the movie is not so much about interracial relations, but it has more to do with the love between a man and a woman.
Movie plot
Everyone says that when you marry someone, you also marry their family; and that`s exactly what this movie`s couple has to learn the hard way. When Lucia and Marcus organize a dinner party for their families meet and find out about their engagement, they`re the ones who are in for a surprise. Forest Whitaker plays Marcus’ father Brad, a popular all-night DJ, while the father of the bride, Miguel owns a towing service.
You all know where this is going. When Miguel tows Brag`s Jaguar in, he probably wasn`t expecting to meet him later on that day when he is introduced to him as the father of her daughter`s future husband. With insults flying both ways around and the tempers running high, it`s hard to say if the fathers will even make it to down the aisle in one piece.
With only weeks before the big day, Lucia and Marcus soon learn the meaning of true love. This movie is a romantic comedy to the very core of it, but the basic point pretty much escapes everyone who insists on being politically correct just for the sake of it. The whole point of this movie is to display the issues between the two communities in a comedic way.
The clash between those two are seen through a number of hilarious actions and comment that are in no way race sensitive. Despite having a storyline that we`ve seen one time too much, Our Family Wedding still manages to surprise you. If you watch it with an open mind, there`s no way you won`t have fun.
8. Think Like a Man
Kevin Hard and the rest of the gang return for this sequel to Steve Harvey`s best-seller ” Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man.” The idea that you can get the best relationship advice from a book is a touchingly naive, but this movie often proves to be much funnier that you`d expect, no doubt thanks to the hard work of the actors.
Zingy and materialistic as any romantic comedy should be, this movie is based heavily on the gender stereotypes, assuming that all women are after marriage, while all the men are into sports and drinking with friends. The result is a 2 hours long cat and mouse game.
Interconnected Couples
Think Like a Man follows four interconnected couples, whose lives are turned upside down when the women discover Harvey’s book and start taking his advice serious. By the time the men realise they`ve been sold out by one of their brothers, it`s already too late.
Single mother Candace is having a hard time separating her fiancé Michael from his overprotective mother, recently married Jeremy is having a hard time running away from his wife`s desire to have children, Lauren and Dominic are at the odds when Lauren is offered a job in New York and last but not least, Mya is having a hard time overcoming her discomfort with Zeke`s reputation as a player.
While the women are desperately trying to outsmart their boyfriends, the men don`t waste time coming with a countermeasure, resulting into a frantic battle of the sexes. When you`re just craving for a soppy-sweet romantic comedy, this movie will definitely do the trick for you. So what if the story line is a bit predictable?
Aren`t they all by now. But the movie fully makes up for it with the laughs. It`s funny, charming and full of unexpected humor. If there`s any reason why this movie is rated so low, it`s probably because the male population wasn`t amused to sit through another romantic comedy with their girlfriends.
7. Norbit
Norbit is one of those comedies with a vile sense of humour that`s not for everyone to watch. It`s mostly a mock film of different stereotypes so you can imagine why most people received it badly, but setting that aside, it`s a masterpiece of Eddie Murphy`s polymorphous sketch-comedy and his right arm Rick Baker, who was in charge of “special makeup effects.” His two characters are the meek and nerdy Norbit and his ill-tempered, overweight, tyrant wife, Rasputia.
A “Big” Love Story
Their complicated love story starts on the playground, when Norbit is saved by Rasputia who beats up all the kids who pick on him, but he ends up jumping out of the frying pan straight into the fire, as, later on, Rasputia herself bullies him into marrying her. Their marriage is briefly rendered in a few horrific short scenes, who focus mainly on how overwhelming Rasputia was in bed, implying that just because she was fat, she also had to be evil.
Future seemed pretty morbid for Norbit, until he finds out his long lost crush is back in town and together with her, she finds a new sense of hope and the courage to stand up to his monstrous spouse. If you`re looking for a way to escape the seriousness of your everyday life, this continuous blast of irreverent humour is the answer to your problems.
Norbet is flat out hilarious, mocking everyone without exception. Eddie Murphy did an outstanding job staring not one, not two, but three different characters in what can be considered one of the best movies he`s played in during his career. If you love laughing and don`t mind the ethical bashing, then ignore the critics because this movie will make you laugh like you`ve never did before.