Instant Favorite.

Fantastic!

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Blistering performances.

This movie is really awful. I first saw it in a theater when it was originally released during the big Chris Rock craze that was going on at the time. I was a big fan of his comedy and liked him a lot.I was very disappointed by this movie and wanted to walk out several times. It's bad for many reasons but, the main one is that it's just not funny. This movie is supposed to be a comedy but, there are very few jokes, even in the scenes that contain stand-up. The makers of the movie also missed a lot of opportunities to add funny scenes. Throughout the majority of the film, Chris Rock's character is dead and his soul is inside the body of an older, white guy. Throughout these scenes, we see Chris Rock, and not the white guy which is fine but, we should see the white guy a lot more, especially since that's how everyone else sees him. We only see the way he looks physically a few times and only for a couple seconds each time. There is one scene where the main character is listening to a rap song and starts singing along to it. We see the white guy for a second and it's funny since you wouldn't expect to see someone like that singing along to rap, right? But, we see him so quickly that, the joke isn't even given a chance to exist. The makers of the movie seem way too concerned with having Chris Rock on screen as much as possible.Then there's the ending. I don't want to give away too many details for those who haven't watched the movie but, it's one of the weirdest and flat-out disturbing endings to a movie that I've ever seen. I think viewers are supposed to be satisfied with it but, I don't see how that's possible.I really don't understand how anyone can watch this movie and enjoy it. For anyone who is planning on watching it, please don't. Unless you're one of those people who enjoys watching bad movies in order to make fun of them. In which case, you'll definitely enjoy this one and you'll have plenty to make of fun of here.

Chris Rock deserves better than he gives himself in "Down To Earth." As directed by brothers Chris & Paul Weitz of "American Pie" fame, this uninspired remake of Warren Beatty's 1978 fantasy "Heaven Can Wait," itself a rehash of 1941's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," lacks the abrasively profane humor that won Chris Rock an Emmy for his first HBO special. Predictably, he spouts swear words from A to Z, but he consciously avoids the F-word. Anybody who saw this gifted African-American comic in "Lethal Weapon 4," "Dogma," or "Nurse Betty" knows he can elicit more laughter with the F-word than Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy put together. Sadly, despite a few witty one-liners, "Down To Earth" hits Rock bottom both as a contrived comedy and an improbable interracial romance."Down to Earth" utterly destroys any good will that the Weitz Brothers generated with their landmark gross-out face "American Pie." This disposable drivel qualifies as a contrived as well as confusing comedy with a thoroughly improbable color-blind interracial romance. Unfortunately, a more than competent cast—among them "The Full Monty's" Mark Addy, Chazz Palminteri of "Analyze This," "SCTV's" Eugene Levy, and newcomer Brian Rhodes as Charles Wellington, Jr.—are wasted in flat-footed, sketchy roles. Hardcore Rock fans will undoubtedly accuse their favorite comedian with trying to fix something that was never broken. Abysmally written by Lance Crouther, Ali Le Roi, Louis CK, and Rock, "Down To Earth" casts Chris as a messenger who rides a bike by day in the Big Apple and gets booed off the stage at night in Harlem's celebrated Apollo Theatre. Poor Lance Barton (Chris Rock) suffers from severe stage fright. Nevertheless, his charitable manager Whitney Daniels (Frankie Faison of "Hannibal") sticks with him through thick and thin. After Lance learns the Apollo Theatre will hold one final amateur night extravaganza, he implores Whitney to get him in the line-up. Excuse me, but if Lance is such a deadbeat stand-up comic, why does the Apollo keep inviting him back? Meanwhile, fate has something else in store for Lance. While pedaling home on his bike, our protagonist spots a pretty lady, Sontee (Regina King of "Jerry Maguire"), crossing the street, but he doesn't see the bus that collides with him and kills him. Wham! Lance Barton levitates skyward with a halo wreathed around his head. In Heaven, which resembles a cruise ship nightclub, Lance learns that an overzealous angel, Mr. Keyes (Eugene Levy of "Stay Tuned"), timed his death 40 years ahead of schedule.Heavenly honcho Mr. King (Chazz Palminteri of "Analyze This"), God's right-hand guy, apologizes and escorts Lance back to earth. The snag is Lance cannot reclaim his corpse, so he must inhabit another body. The best that Mr. Keyes can come up with is ruthless, white, 60-year old tycoon Charles Wellington. Wellington's adulterous wife Amber (Jennifer Coolidge of "American Pie") and his unscrupulous personal aide Winston (Greg Germann of "Sweet November") have just tried to poison him. Reluctantly, before Wellington's body vanishes, Lance accepts it conditionally as a loaner until Keyes can locate a more appropriate body. Meanwhile, Lance-as-Wellington encounters Sontee again. She is a nurse activist protesting his decision to privatize a Brooklyn community hospital that serves the poor. While Regina King brings a surfeit of charisma to her role as a crusading health care worker, she plays a character who bypasses credible motivation in her affairs with Wellington. Although he is no longer black, Lance not only tries to woo Sontee but also win a gig at the Apollo."Down To Earth" features Rock in his most unfunny role. The comedian's reason for making this movie seems questionable. Reportedly, he ate lunch with Warren Beatty and told Beatty that he loved the original script that scenarist Elaine May had penned for Beatty. Initially, Beatty tried the race-reversal gimmick himself in his own version by trying to cast Muhammad Ali in the title role of "Heaven Can Wait." The deal fell through, and Beatty headlined the movie himself. According to Rock, his longtime co-writers and he thought that they could 'annihilate' this classic. Moreover, he justified his choice of "Heaven Can Wait" based on his philosophy to "Do Something you can only do when you're hot." Earlier, Rock rejected a script about a busload of touring rappers, because he saw little opportunity to stretch his image in such an outing. As a lifeless comedian in "Down to Earth," Rock doesn't so much stretch his image as he inverts it for the worst! This half-baked concert film with an annoying plot does as much to cremate his comic reputation as it does the Weitz Brothers! You know a film about a comedian is in dire straits when a scene at the nightclub is played so you cannot hear the jokes, only the laughter. Similarly, the casting of Mark Addy as Wellington's butler who speaks the Queen's English but is in reality a commoner from Michigan defies logic, too. Addy is an actual Englishman, and he doesn't have to fake an accent; his accent is genuine. The major overriding quandary with "Down to Earth" is the on-again-off-again, look-a-like switcheroo that the characters make so Chris Rock doesn't disappear completely from the sight for more than a few seconds. Although Chris spends half the movie as white guy Wellington, audiences see him largely as Lance, undercutting the comic irony of watching his stocky, bald-headed, Caucasian white, alter-ego perform ghetto humor and chant derogatory hip-hop lyrics. Incredibly, Rock served double-duty as the film's executive producer and one of its four scribes. The mystery is how such a wealth of talent could grind out such an awkward, misguided muddle of a comedy. About the only redeeming feature of "Down to Earth" is Jamshied Sharifi's superb orchestral film score.

With a combination of charm, wit, humor and romance; "Down To Earth" has ascended to be one of the funniest films I've seen in 2001. This marks the second Chris Rock movie I have seen and I must say I was impressed with his comedic and acting ability because he kept me laughing throughout the film. It is a true pleasure to take a break from the violent action films and watch a light-hearted comedy meant to entertain."Down To Earth" is a very exciting film to watch because Chris Rock's comedy is funny and unpredictable. One the coolest parts of this film was Rock's performance because he knew when to turn off the comedy in the more serious scenes.Furthermore, Rock seemed to fit the part perfectly because his performance looked to pulled off with little effort. This is Chris Rock's breakthrough performance because it proves he is an actor to be reckoned with and not just a one-hit wonder.The intelligence and creativity of the writing was excellent because it was unique and interesting to see how the script would play out on screen. Another impressive aspect of the movie was the element of the dream Rock's character had about performing at the Apollo. It is a true pleasure and welcomed change to see a legitimate underlying plot that made sense rather than one put in to add extra minutes to the movie.The supporting cast of King, Addy, Levy and Palminteri play a huge role in the success of "Down To Earth" because each bring their own exciting personas to the screen. All of these actors come from different genres of film, which makes for an interesting mix of characters.I was extremely impressed with the way each related to one another; furthermore, as with Rock, they seemed to be right at home in their roles because it was pulled off with ease. It is not often that we find a cast who come together from different genres to produce such an exciting and hilarious film."Down To Earth" is the best comedy of the year because it combines fresh and original jokes with touching and charming scenes lacking in the other 2001 comedies. Chris Rock is a tremendous comedic talent that knows how to use it to his advantage; furthermore, it is a true pleasure to watch him."Down To Earth" made me smile because it is a truly touching film that isn't holding anything back. Chris Rock rules the screen with his comedy and the writing is out of this world.Rock's comedy, charm and wit made this film worthwhile and he deserves all the praise. "Down To Earth" receives a directed verdict of guilty of being one of the funniest films of 2001.

i thought the movie was good enough but the ending was one of the poorest i have ever seen. when i saw the end i couldn't believe it was the end.i thought the movie was good enough but the ending was one of the poorest i have ever seen. when i saw the end i couldn't believe it was the end.i thought the movie was good enough but the ending was one of the poorest i have ever seen. when i saw the end i couldn't believe it was the end.i thought the movie was good enough but the ending was one of the poorest i have ever seen. when i saw the end i couldn't believe it was the end.i thought the movie was good enough but the ending was one of the poorest i have ever seen. when i saw the end i couldn't believe it was the end.