I Think I Love My Wife

Movie night and it was a choice between I Think I Love My Wife and Premonition. We went with I Think I Love My Wife. Written and directed by and starring Chris Rock, the film is about Richard Cooper (Rock) finding himself bored with his marriage.


Richard is an investment banker at a medium sized firm. He lives in the suburbs with his lovely schoolteacher wife, Brenda (Gina Torres). They have two children and have their routine pretty much down pat. SUV, chicken for dinner, Saturday afternoons shopping with the kids, and the occasional dinner with their other married friends. They seem a solid married couple on the outside, but see a marriage counsellor and have stopped having sex for quite some time. The inciting incident begins when Richard is visited at work by an old friend's ex flame, Nikki (played by the gorgeous Kerry Washington). Nikki is flirtatious, seductive and spontaneous. They begin a friendship on the sly with her only contacting him at work. Richard knows he's just tempting himself by getting closer and closer to Nikki. Richard's marriage starts unraveling the more time he spends with Nikki and begins to neglect his work. Ultimately, Richard has a decision to make.


I love Chris Rock's other work, but this film didn't quite work for me. It was interesting to see the story from his point of view. However, I have a problem with the way Nikki is portrayed as predatory and manipulating while Richard is merely the innocent, clueless victim of her charms. This seems to say that women are always crafty and after the married man and he has no mind or will of his own when he sees cleavage or the back of her thong over her jeans. Richard's moment of clarity with his inner conflict is pretty unrealistic as well. Something didn't quite click and I wasn't pulled into the story. There were a few laughs, but for the most part, our theater was pretty quiet. Basically if you were to ask me "How was it?" I'd have to answer with one of those head nods to the side, "It was...okay."

I Think I Love My Wife
5.5/10
Recommended: Not really, unless you're a huge Chris Rock fan.

More ramblings to come.......