Down to Earth
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: February 16, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
32
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
9
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
30
Mr. ShowbizLarry Terenzi
The selling out of Chris Rock -- or Down to Earth, as he's chosen to call it -- is a sad, sad thing.
25
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait," released in 1978, was a comic fantasy about a near-death experience. This new version is a near-life experience. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An astonishingly bad movie, and the most astonishing thing about it comes in the credits: Written by Elaine May, Warren Beatty, Chris Rock, Lance Crouther, Ali LeRoi and Louis CK. These are credits that deserve a place in the Writers Hall of Fame. Read full review
20
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Rock is undisputably gifted and charismatic, but when Down to Earth takes his edge away, the film's energy goes with it. And without energy, no comedy can survive. Read full review
20
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
If Rock ever comes to his senses, he can host Saturday Night Live and skewer this damp, gag-riddled civics lesson of a movie. Read full review
20
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
For a comedy, there are precious few real laughs. Three to be exact. Read full review
20
Film.comErnest Hardy
Pandering and tired, Down to Earth lurches from one dead gag to the other, in search of both comedic rhythm and a dramatic pulse. It finds neither. Read full review
20
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A very earthbound comic fantasy, a racially flip-flopped "Heaven Can Wait" redo stuck in a purgatory with just enough meager laughs to keep it from a more fiery fate. Read full review
20
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Not funny at all. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Mr. Rock's opening scene is very funny. After that it's a steep downhill slide.
10
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
The film seems to argue that Rock's real-life manipulation of the race card is little more than exploitation, rather than the essence of his incendiary comic critique. Read full review
10
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The call on this one is: dead on arrival. Read full review
10
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Penned by Rock and a handful of his pals, is such an utter disaster it seems to go out of its way to avoid comedy. It's the very definition of oxymoron: a crowd-pleaser that doesn't. Read full review
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