Naked

It's not original (yes Groundhog was there before ... time and time again) and it is kind of juvenille when it comes to humor. Still while it's not laugh out loud funny, this is an improvement to those other comedies we've seen lately from Marlon. While that may not mean anything to some people, some others may appreciate it.

Leaving it up to you to decide. There is no sound explanation as to why this is happening, but why bother? It's not like most viewers will care. Those who are taken by the story will not ask for it, those who don't like the jokes will ask for it, but wouldn't be satisfied no matter what the answer is. Some neat cameos, some interesting ideas and a "social" message are included ...

3/4

A Netflix original comedy starring none other than Scary Movie guy Marlon Wayans... scared yet? From looking at this movie, it will strike as something that doesn't look good off paper. However, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed myself.

The plot is simple: A man-child is about to get married when he and his buddies get wasted the night before. Cut to him waking up naked in an elevator, making it to his wedding before a time loop takes him back into the elevator naked. This happens until he can pull of his marriage perfectly (he screws up a lot, hence the conflict).

Not only does it provide laughs, but over the course of an hour (repeated dozens of times) you get to see Wayan's character truly mature and grow. He gets to see hear those at the wedding reprimand him (which turned out to be giving him advice) so he could know how to improve circa next shot of redemption. Although it strives to be a little more than a popcorn flick, it's harder to take its message more seriously in it's context.

It's a fun movie for some laughs on Friday night, that also has (very little) depth if you look hard enough. However, don't subscribe to Netflix just to watch this: it can be missed.

Not to be confused with the bleak British drama of the same name, Naked is a Wayans Netflix original movie and oddly enjoyable.

I'll be honest I assumed it would be the pits, Netflix doesn't have the best record with comedies and Wayans hasn't made a decent movie in a fair long while.

Naked embraces a plot type that I enjoy, namely the time loop. Seen in the likes of Groundhog Day (1993), the Happy Deathday franchise and the recent television series Russian Doll (2019) I always find it rather intriguing.

Here we see a man wake up on his wedding day in a broken down hotel elevator, stark naked. Everytime the church bells sound he returns to the same spot and is forced to relive the same period of time again. You know the drill, with each loop he learns more and more and gets closer to achieving his goal.

Here they did a fantastic job with the concept and the balance between comedy and a competent storyline. I laughed, I cheered and I walked away happy.

Naked does exactly what it sets out to do, bravo Netflix.

The Good:

Some real laughs

Heartwarming feel good film

Makes great use of its concept

Solid cast

The Bad:

A couple of jokes are cringe inducing

Given the recent streak of swing and misses from Marlon Wayans, then I was somewhat hesitant about actually taking the time to sit down to watch this Netflix production. But I still did so, on the off chance that he might actually have struck gold this time.

And I must say that I was genuinely surprised with the level of entertainment that "Naked" turned out to be. This was definitely one of the better Marlon Wayans movies in quite some time. Now, with that said, I am not saying that this is an outstanding movie in the comedy genre, but it was a definite improvement on his past many movies.

I must admit that I found it good to watch Marlon Wayans in a comedy that wasn't a spoof on other movies, so it was something new and refreshing to watch. But then again, the concept of the movie with the same time frame looping over and over, leaving the character in the movie to repeat the same events over and over have been done previously in other movies such as "Groundhog Day".

The story in "Naked" was actually a good combination of comedy and a good story arc, which made for a rather good viewing experience. It was a combination of the storyline, the characters, the events of the story and the dialogue that worked quite well together.

Aside from Marlon Wayans, then "Naked" does have some good talents on the cast list and some familiar faces if you are no newcomer to comedy. These include Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert and Loretta Devine.

If you enjoy comedies and Marlon Wayans movies in particular, then you should definitely take the time to sit down and watch "Naked".

It's an entertaining film. Not a laughing gas but has mediocre humor. It's neither a must watch film nor a don't watch film. You can watch it on a bad day or on a train way home or while waiting for someone, you don't even need full attention. Just watch it on the go.