"Down to Earth"

Chris Rock, reborn as a white guy, blazes through a perfectly pleasant "Heaven Can Wait" rip-off.

By Stephanie Zacharek

Feb 16, 2001 | Paul and Chris Weitz's "American Pie" is one of those pictures that seem to mean different things to different people. At the time of its release, almost everyone I talked to mentioned the infamous apple pie sequence. Most barely recognized the way the movie dived so pointedly into the choppy, glittering waters of male-female relationships among teenagers.

But as more people saw the movie, especially on video, the pie scene became old news. I found that the conversations I had with people about the movie became more complex. At the very least, they'd often readily admit how sweet it was -- they saw the relationships between the kids, and not the poor victimized pie, as the movie's focal point. And many expressed genuine fondness for the movie instead of shrugging it off as another ridiculous teen comedy.

The Weitz brothers' new picture, "Down to Earth," a remake of the 1978 Warren Beatty, Buck Henry and Elaine May collaboration "Heaven Can Wait" (which itself was a remake of Alexander Hall's 1941 "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"), isn't likely to resonate like "American Pie." But it is proof that the Weitzes have a knack for grooving on a good-natured but not saccharine vibe, for making pictures that are sweet-tempered without being annoyingly smooshy.

In "Down to Earth," Chris Rock plays Lance Barton, messenger by day, comedian hopeful by night, but his act is going nowhere, despite the best efforts of his manager, Whitney (smooth and utterly winning Frankie Faison). Riding home on his bicycle one night, Lance is distracted by a beautiful woman crossing the street and is subsequently hit by a truck; unbeknown to him, angel Keyes (Eugene Levy, whose magnificent eyebrows speak the equivalent of the Encyclopedia Britannica) has been standing by with his stopwatch, waiting for the accident to happen.

It turns out, though, that Keyes has goofed; Lance isn't due to die for 40 more years. The only thing that can be done, claims Keyes' boss, King (Chazz Palminteri, looking suave in a powder-blue tux, as only a top-dog angel could), is to find a new body in which to house Lance's soul. The only one currently available belongs to Charles Wellington, a big-business stinker of a millionaire whose wife (Jennifer Coolidge, looking like a superpneumatic cartoon version of Dyan Cannon, who played the corresponding character in the original) is scheming to kill him. Lance sees himself when he looks in the mirror, but everyone else sees a paunchy, balding, whiter-than-white captain of industry. It's not long before Lance starts taking pleasure in using his new identity (and money) to do nice things for other people, even as he maintains plenty of his jagged and acerbic edges.

"Down to Earth" is a little disjointed in places. It's sometimes hard to buy the idea that Lance looks like Wellington to everyone else when all we can see is Chris Rock. Once in a while we get a shot of Wellington the white guy, played by Brian Rhodes, but he's not much of a presence -- and granted, you wouldn't want him to be, given that Rock is so much fun to watch. But the Weitzes sustain the energy through the picture's 90 or so minutes. It doesn't feel fat or padded, like so many contemporary comedies, and its very leanness is appealing.

Next Page: It's clear that the Weitzes' first movie wasn't just beginner's luck

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