A revision of Eric Rohmer’s 1972 comedy “Chloe in the Afternoon,” “I Think I Love My Wife” transports “Chloe” to New York City.
Richard (Chris Rock, who also directed) is the only African-American partner at the firm Pupkin and Langford. He is happily married to Brenda (Gina Torres), a beautiful, sweet-natured schoolteacher. They have a lovely home and two adorable children.
TheyÂ’re the younger, hipper Cliff and Claire Huxtable.
But they have stopped having sex. They are in couples therapy with a woman who is neither married nor a parent, and in voice-overs, we learn Richard is gazing longfully at attractive women in the street and going out of his mind.
Enter Nikki Tru (gorgeous Kerry Washington in a role originated by French actress Zouzou). Nikki is the incredibly hot ex-girlfriend of one of Richard’s friends. She likes Richard, and because her current relationship is on the rocks, she seeks his comforting, “safe” male presence. Richard’s masculine co-workers gaze with lust when Nikki sashays through the office. The females, knowing Richard is married, seethe.
The film is alternately funny, tedious and predictable, a TV sitcom with R-rated dialogue. As RichardÂ’s somewhat older adviser and friend, Steve Buscemi is an always welcome presence. Torres and Washington are also fine, if limited by the material.
But Rock, who co-wrote the script with Louis C.K. (“Pootie Tang”), misses as often as he hits. A tirade about panties is dolorously unfunny, while a misadventure involving Richard and Viagra is amusing, indeed. Some things just don’t work at all and make you wonder why anyone would think they would.
These include a game Nikki plays involving dropping dollar bills from heights and watching people below scramble for them and a scene in which the film breaks into a musical.
That Nikki seems a bit nuts and obnoxious makes any sympathy we might have for Richard fly out the window with those dollar bills. Behavior we might accept in a besotted Frenchman makes a highly educated, African-American professional look like a weak-willed fool. Perhaps such a man might risk everything for a little pootie tang on the side, but why should we care?
(“I Think I Love My Wife” contains sexual situations and profanity.)