By Peter Celauro
Assistant A&E Editor
The soon-to-be Leader of the Free World is dead. His handlers, trying to give the impression that nothing is wrong, rush to find a patsy to fill his shoes. Everything is going great until it becomes apparent that said patsy isn’t just along for the ride. He has a few things to say about running a country and when they start to come out, hilarity (and some valuable life lessons) are the inevitable result.
All right, so anybody who’s been witness to the movie scene during the last 10 years knows that this plot’s been done before. This particular script, however, is hipper, funnier and Chris Rockier than all the rest, making it well worth our time and money … at least, that’s what DreamWorks is hoping we’ll believe.
The film is “Head of State,” yet another horse in the DreamWorks comedy stable and yet another effort by the company to establish itself as the college demographic’s primary movie supplier. Rolling off the line before “Old School” has even cooled off, “Head of State” illustrates that DreamWorks is sticking to a new philosophy regarding comedy flicks: If you put the right name on the poster, they (the moviegoers) will come.
In this case, it’s comedian Chris Rock who will lure in the ticket-buyers. Rock isn’t just an appealing bait, however; he’s the movie’s director, co-writer and star.
Rock plays Mays Gilliam, an Alderman in Washington, D.C., who’s about to lose his job when his party’s frontrunner dies suddenly. Before he knows it, Gilliam’s been swept into the spotlight as his party’s unlikely presidential candidate.
“We’ve all seen movies with a black president or vice president,” Rock said on the movie’s official site. “But the premise was always ‘black president.’ I didn’t want to make a black president movie; I wanted to make a movie where a black guy just happens to be running for president.”
Whether the audience will see the difference has yet to be seen. Whether the audience will actually show up, however, is hardly a mystery. With names like Bernie Mac (“The Bernie Mac Show”) and West-Coast rapper Nate Dogg on the roster, at the very least “Head of State” is sure to attract fans of hip-hop and/or stand-up comedy; two genres with impressive fan bases.
Rock says his casting choices go beyond just attracting a certain group of fans, however.
“I wanted Nate Dogg because for the past 12 years or so, he’s been a narrator of our culture,” Rock said. “Wherever hip hop is, Nate Dogg has been there, so I thought he’d be absolutely perfect for this.
Rock also enjoyed working with Mac.
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “We’re both from the old school; we love the same kind of comedy, so we really bonded. We had a great time.”
Given the serious tone of America’s political climate right now, many critics are wondering if Rock had other motives for writing a presidential movie. Would political undertones dilute Rock’s notoriously politically incorrect flavor?
Thankfully, the comedian claims those looking for nothing more than a good laugh have nothing to worry about.
“I’m not trying to do political humor,” Rock said. “I’m just talking like I would at a barbershop or on a street corner or something. I’m just trying to get laughs with everyday stuff that I hope people think is funny.”
“Head of State” opens tomorrow.
March 27, 2003
