Head of State Movie Review:


Chris Rock is back in the winded political comedy
Head of State, in which he not only starred in but
also produced, directed and co-wrote. Rock plays Mays Gilliam, who is an Alderman hero in the inner-city section of Washington, D.C. Mays watches out for his neighborhood peers by occasionally saving pets and treating each with respect rather than using them as chess pieces to move ahead politically.

Shortly after the film opens, an unnamed political
party's candidate for President of the United States
is killed in an airplane accident with just months
before the election. The party's majority leader,
Senator Bill Arnot (Rebhorn), knows that the party has no way of capturing the presidency in 2004, but he might have a vital shot as a candidate in 2008. Arnot interjects to political analyst Debra Lassister
(Whitfield) and campaign manager Martin Geller (Baker) that Mays should be the party's replacement candidate.

Arnot's contrived plan is for the most part is to
lose horribly in 2004, and then come back in full
force with his leadership in 2008. After debating the
invitation, Mays, who is a flashy dresser,
fast-talker, but an honest being, accepts the
nomination and looks to becoming the first black
President of the United States. After first utilizing
the party's own political strategies to gain
recognition, Mays begins to speak his mind and slowly begins to move up in the polls. He also gets his bail-bondsmen brother, Mitch (Mac), to run as his vice president candidate. The duo gain momentum from citizens and look to make history with their own style, reality, and beliefs of what is best for the country.

Rock is a talented comedian; however, he struggles
with most areas in Head of State. Rock and Ali Leroi collaborated on writing the screenplay, in which a lot of the jokes are clumsy and the ones that seem to work become very redundant through out the film. Such as Mays' stalking ex-girlfriend Kim as well as the continuous "security" incidents. The supposed comedic side bits are also ridiculous, such as Meat Man (Morgan) popping up in pointless segments towards the
end of the film. The plot is very reminiscent of
Eddie Murphy's The Distinguished Gentleman (1992), except Rock is more full-fledged with his political views and attitude. Most of the film's non-verbal jokes (body language) worked better at gaining laughs than the spoken comedic dialogue. On the other hand, the film's many slapping incidents become one too many, especially the ones involving the Bernie Mac character. There are some chuckles throughout the film, but overall the script is scattered and repetitive.

I can see Rock himself coming along as a writer and director of his own movies, it might just take some time for him to find his niche. I did like Rock's
choice of having rapper Nate Dogg as the film's
musical narrator as well as the quick cuts of Rock's
character hallucinating of being assassinated.

Chris Rock's performance is really just the comedian being himself in a different satire setting. It is nice to see that Rock is moving back to comedy rather than trying out action like he did with Bad Company (2002). Bernie Mac is the one actor the delivers with his role as Mays' brother/running mate. Mac's comedic charisma is amusing and I laughed by just watching his continual body movements. The downfall is that some
scenes with Mac are dull, and his character is only on the screen for a fourth of the movie. One time Head of the Class star Robin Givens pops up throughout the film as Mays' stalking ex-girlfriend. She overdoes the role dreadfully and winds up being a pure annoyance in the film.

Head of State is a clumsy comedy that strives for big laughs, but only delivers a few chuckles. Most of the jokes become overboard with a mix of racist and political humor. Chris Rock is a good comedian and might become a good comedy writer/director in the future, but this film attempt is pretty stale.

Report Card Grade: C-

03/29/03

Joseph C. Tucker

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