Down to Earth (2001)

After dying before his time, an aspiring black comic gets a second shot at life - by being placed in the body of a wealthy white businessman.

Directors:

Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz

Writers:

Elaine May, Warren Beatty

Stars:

Chris Rock, Regina King, Chazz Palminteri

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Rock	...	Lance Barton
Regina King	...	Sontee Jenkins
Chazz Palminteri	...	King
Eugene Levy	...	Keyes
Frankie Faison	...	Whitney Daniels
Mark Addy	...	Cisco
Greg Germann	...	Sklar
Jennifer Coolidge	...	Mrs. Wellington
Wanda Sykes	...	Wanda
John Cho	...	Phil Quon
Mario Joyner	...	Apollo M.C.
Bryetta Calloway	...	Gospel Singer
Martha Chaves	...	Rosa
Brian Rhodes	...	Charles Wellington, III
Herb Lovelle	...	Trashman

Storyline

It seems everyone is trying to get into heaven; at least those whose time is up. For Lance Barton, a struggling comedian and bicycle messenger, it's the last thing on his mind. His due date upstairs is 50 years away. In the meantime, he's got big dreams to pursue on Earth, such as landing a slot at the final Amateur Night Contest at the famed Apollo Theatre. Lance's has one little problem though - he ain't that funny. Thanks to an over-cautious emissary from heaven, Mr. Keyes, he's going to get hit (literally) with a much bigger problem. Showing that even God has difficulty finding good help these days, the inept minion mistakenly plucks Lance from a traffic accident - before it takes place. Transporting him to the Pearly Gates, or more accurately, the velvet roped-lines of the hottest club around, the error is finally addressed by Mr. King, the streetwise, no-nonsense head angel who manages the place from his plush windowed office. Since returning to his own body on Earth is ...

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Plot Keywords:

heaven | butler | angel | reincarnation | manhattan new york city | 

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Taglines:

A story of premature reincarnation.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor and some drug references

Details

Country:

Germany Canada Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 2001 (Germany)

Also Known As:

I Was Made to Love Her

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$49,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,027,309, 18 February 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$64,186,502

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$71,186,502

Company Credits

Production Co:

3 Arts Entertainment, Alphaville Films, CHS Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The comedian Joe Guy in this film is taken from the real-life comedians, brothers Joe Torry and Guy Torry.

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Goofs

While traveling to Harlem, Wellington's limo is shown going through Times Square. Both 7th Avenue and Broadway are southbound streets, however Harlem is in the northeast corner of Manhattan.

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Quotes

Lance Barton: What is this place?
Keyes: This is heaven.
Lance Barton: Oh, right, I've had this dream before. Is Pac in there?

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Connections

References I Love Lucy (1951)

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Soundtracks

Nice
By Rene Tromborg & Rasmus Billie Bahncke
Courtesy of C & J Music

User Reviews

A total snore

We rented it and I wasn't expecting much in the first place. . It just looked like it would be another one of the endless comedies that come out every year. This one should not have been on the big screen, nor should it have gone straight to video. It was horrible!! I like Chris Rock, his stand up is hilarious, and I loved him as Nat X on Saturday Night Live, and he was good in New Jack City. But if he's going to be an actor, then do some acting. .not that it was bad, but the material was terrible.

The story was as predictable as can be. . The worst parts were when they tried to get the audience emotionally involved, they tried to get us to care about these characters. WTF? We don't want "Steel Magnolias" or "Beaches", we want Chris Rock to be funny! He wasn't. . it was LAME. Common sense would dictate that we, the audience, should see rock as the white man, and hear him as the white man, doing the stand up. THAT would have been funny.

Anyway, this was pretty damn bad. 5/10 at best.. NOT funny, just a waste of time, but thank god it was pretty short.