Smart, sharp political satire it's not. But this Chris Rock flick--the comedian's directorial debut in which he plays the first black man running for president as a major party nominee--mixes a few stinging zingers into its generally crowd-pleasing brand of snickers and knee-slappers. "God Bless America, and no place else!" is the almost too accurate campaign slogan of Rock's Bush-like opponent, and even before the first line of dialogue, Rock gives a good-natured ribbing to Al Gore, Bob Dole, Hillary Clinton, and several other politicians whose names appear large in the opening credits, followed by the words "...are not in this movie." Most of the flick's ample laughs, however, come from much lower-brow gags like the sight of a fundraiser full of aging, white-bread aristocrats doing the Electric Slide to rap singer Nelly's bump-and-grind anthem "Hot in Herre." But while Rock bats about .700 with the laughs, as a writer-director he's clumsy at best; Head of State has little in the way of story arc, simply jumping from one unrelated incident to another with the occasional pivotal line of dialogue thrown in. Optional. [Note: Available in both widescreen and full screen versions, DVD extras include colorful audio commentary by writer-director-producer Chris Rock, a 13-minute making-of featurette, six deleted scenes, cast and crew bios, text production notes, and a photo gallery. Bottom line: Fans are sure to appreciate Chris Rock's commentary on this so-so comedy.] (R. Blackwelder)
Head of State
Universal, 95 min., PG-13, VHS: $107.99, DVD: $26.99, Aug. 12 Volume 18, Issue 4
Head of State
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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