February 04, 2005
#4 Head of State
When this movie comes up, I always think about this exchange:
"Mays, we would like you to run for President."
"Of what?"
"Of the United States."
"Of what?"
"Of America."
"Which America?"
"NORTH!!"
What can I say about Chris Rock that has not been said, or that he hasn't said himself?
His stand-up? On point.
His show? One of the best on tv, when it was on.
His movies? Ehhh, not so great. As Pookie in New Jack City, he was cool. Had the crackhead look and everything.
Head of State was ok. Not super-great, but decent entertainment. It follows Mays Gilliam as he is chosen by the party (it never says which one, but you can sort of tell...) to run for president after his girl dumps him (Robin Givens, who spent that time forward trying to get back with him), he loses his Alderman job, his bike, his car, etc. His campaign starts off rocky, as Mays comes off as not himself. Once he starts to talk to the people in his own laguage, he does better. No one wants to run for him as VP, so Mays chooses his brother Mitch (Bernie Mac) to do so. The campaign takes off, but has some setbacks, as the challenger, current VP Bryan Lewis uses Mays' soundbites against him, and his campaign manager informs him that he wasn't even supposed to win, just set it up for Sen. Bill Arnott to run in '08, some shit. But Mays overcomes it all. It also contains the token love interest in Tamela Jones.
The idea of a black man as president is not a new one, and I can't say whether it is being explored further or not, but every now and then it pops up. Morgan Freeman was president in Deep Impact, to which I was like, yeah, sure, there WOULD be a black president during some Exticntion Level Event shit. But I think this idea really became borne with James Earl Jones in 'The Man' (1972), where a black senator becomes Presdent when a freak accident kills the President and the Speaker of the House, and the VP declines the job.
But, back to this. I saw this on HBO, declining to see it in the movies because I thought it would be mad silly/borderline coonish. While it has its silly moments, like the old white people C-walking at the fundraiser and Mays and Mitch kicking each other's ass, AND the whole 'I thought I told you that we won't stop' shit, Head of State was entertaining enough that I didn't turn when it was on, and I had nothing to really do.
Next: The Five Heartbeats