Viewed: I Think I Love My Wife

I'm pretty sure I saw this movie. I just can't remember any lines from it. It was St. Patrick's day, after all, and I celebrated in the traditional Irish way, off-brand Dharma initiative wine, an expensive Japanese dinner, and high quality sake. I went to a restaurant where they pour the sake so it overflows onto a plate on purpose. This, I was told, is how it is traditionally done in Japan.

Really, who am I supposed to trust? Me and my personal experiences in Japan, a magical land where kitsune and cosplay girls were always presenting me with tiny amounts of alcohol and the concept of fusing Jack Daniels and Coke confuses the general populace, or an overpriced LA restaurant with the sake equivalent of a Big Gulp?

I would not normally go to a theater to see a comedy I expected to be less than stellar (see the forthcoming review of Hot Fuzz), but my wife was in the mood to laugh, and again, sake was involved. Conveniently, there happened to be a showing of the new Chris Rock movie right after we finished our dinner.

Though my memory of the film is fuzzy, I think the reviewers were somewhat harsh. I Think I Love My Wife is a thoroughly modern megaplex comedy. Jokes are thrown against the screen in the hopes that a third of them will stick. There are safe "Married life means no sex" jokes everyone can feel laugh at. ("That's true! We're so lame!") There's an extended Viagra gag for you to enjoy or avert your ears during--your choice. And there are throwaway bitter asides that you might not laugh at if you're on a date.

My wife and I were the only people in the theater to audibly appreciate the latter. As this became more apparent, I laughed harder and louder on purpose, calling attention to the couples in the audience that, "HA! I'm in a relationship where I can laugh at that without consequences!" It was opening night of the Dungeons & Dragons movie all over again, except this time no one told me to be quiet, and I Think I Love My Wife, when it is funny, is funny on purpose.

It was an interesting social experiment, and I think critics would have liked it more if they had lowered their standards or drank a plate of sake beforehand.

It does have its problems, though. I was a bit confused as to why Chris Rock would be tempted by a woman whose only good quality was that she dated guys from The Wire. But given the murmurs of approval from the men in the audience whenever she did something desperately slutty, Kerry Washington has ineffable qualities that make one forget about Gina Torres. And then there was the ending. When given the chance to consummate his affair with the other woman, Chris Rock went as far as removing her panties before remembering that he had kids, at which point he went fleeing back to his wife. That scene destroyed all suspension of disbelief, but my wife insists that the woman sitting next to her was clapping at that point.

I thought everyone was booing with me.

Sometimes I just appreciate films on a different level than everyone else.