neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Marci X
	Richard Benjamin Lisa Kudrow, Damon Wayans, Richard Benjamin, Christine Baranski, Paula Garcés, Jane Krakowski 2003		How did the embarrassing, disheartening "Marci X" happen? This clumsy attempt at satirizing celebrity, censorship, New York high society and the hip-hop lifestyle is an awful subway-wreck. "Marci X" should've been a wacky, laugh-a-minute lark — its script was the work of usually-witty columnist and screenwriter Paul Rudnick ("Addams Family Values"), it was directed by Richard Benjamin (whose "My Favorite Year" was a memorable look at the Golden Age of TV comedy), and it stars quirky, lovable "Friends" ditz Lisa Kudrow and no-holds-barred, ghetto-fabulous comic actor Damon Wayans. Instead, it's a smug, way-more-miss-than-hit parade of feeble, cutesy stabs at humor. Among his holdings, wealthy Ben Feld (Benjamin) owns a record label that's under fire from conservative Sen. Mary Ellen Spinkle (Christine Baranski) for issuing CDs by vulgar rapper Dr. S (Wayans). Feld's daughter Marci (Kudrow) tries save Daddy's rep by taming Dr. S, who wants no interference from the spoiled, uptight heiress. With its shallow, shopaholic Jewish American Princess and lame-brained African-American gangsta rapper, "Marci X" manages to be offensive to two minorities at once.