I Think I Love My Wife

A Manhattan investment banker (Chris Rock) gets the seven-year itch when an old flame (Kerry Washington) breezes into town and offers a delectable contrast to his wife (Gina Torres). Rock, who also directed and co-wrote the script with Louis C.K. (based on Eric Rohmer’s 1972 Chloe in the Afternoon), dials down his usual frenetic style with a semi-serious performance, and he does provide a handful of respectable laughs. But the title is emblematic of the movie’s uncertain tone: Rock can’t resist going off on tangents—sidetrips into strained Viagra jokes, a scene with Washington’s gangsta boyfriend, etc. Worse yet, Washington’s character becomes less and less appealing as the movie wears on, while the wife is unsympathetic from the start. The movie has overtones of misogyny that stick in the craw.