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Those who know the work of avant-garde French filmmaker Eric Rohmer would not draw a connection to edge-pushing comedian Chris Rock. But here we have Rock putting his own twist on Rohmer’s famed film, CHLOE IN THE AFTERNOON. Minus the artistry (or pretense depending on your point of view), Rock takes the theme of Rohmer’s film and makes it his own, including his own raunchy comedy.

Richard Cooper (Rock) is an investment banker, married with two kids. His wife Brenda (Gina Torres, SERENITY) and he are going through a rough patch in their marriage. The spark is gone and Richard is frustrated that they no longer have sex. Then enters Nikki Tru (Kerry Washington, LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), the sexy former girlfriend of one of Richard’s old friends. She has moved back to New York and is desperate for a friend to help her out. Richard can hardly resist. While the relationship stays platonic, this distraction starts to make waves at Richard’s office that soon break at home.

Along with screenwriter Louis C.K., Rock flattens out the nuances of the original and makes the ideas more obvious. Some, especially those that love the Rohmer film, might find the effort shallow, but Rock is trying to reach a wider audience. This is certainly true with the weaker gag elements such as a scene where Richard is nervous buying condoms and a nasty episode after taking Viagra. But when Rock weaves in his own contemporary views on the struggles of marriage, the film hits some funny marks.

As a director, Rock is okay. Tonal shifts and pacing issues don’t help the film. However, in the role of Richard, Rock is fitting. The same can be said of the other cast members. Washington is certainly alluring as the temptress, looking for a challenge in hooking the man she can’t have. Torres is the perfect counter, beautiful, but in a more motherly way. I really liked how she handles a scene in the latter part of the film after Richard has stormed out of the house over chicken for dinner. She plays it like a woman who has been married for a while and doesn’t need theatrics to get her husband’s attention.

Rock’s feature film work has mainly been juvenile affairs, including his first directing work on HEAD OF STATE. But this film shows a maturing. There are still some pranks, but for the most part he’s seriously dealing with relatable marriage issues. In some ways it reminded me of the work Gene Wilder or Dudley Moore were doing in the 1980s. One doesn’t really feel the struggles of the characters, but they understand them, because they come from an honest place. Rock never lets the material get dramatic, which serves him well for the most part. He definitely puts an unexpected twist on the serenade that makes the point that sometimes good humor is good medicine for an ailing marriage.

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