Naked

I'm so sorry to see that Marlon, once again, end up in a bad movie... I'm sure he is a talented actor...if he gets the chance (but then he has to stop producing his own movies and be more aware of the directors).

The acting is not great, but I really believe that it could have been good (even though it's basically just a remake of Groundhog Day). The movie is not good... There is no substance, surprises or great scenes, and I truly believe it's the producers and directors fault, and not so much the actors.

I am very surprised that this is a Netflix production...

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

"Naked" is a lazy rip-off a time-loop movie, not only of "Groundhog Day" (1993), the gold standard of the genre, but it's also an English-language remake of the Swedish version "Naken" (2000), which I haven't seen but also doesn't appear to be held in high regard. "Source Code" (2011), "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), "Happy Death Day" (2017), the "Russian Doll" series, and "Palm Springs" (2020) have all done interesting things with this specific time-travel concept, including doing better than "Naked" the whodunnit of a crime ("Source Code" and "Happy Death Day") and an improved rom-com ("Groundhog Day" and "Palm Springs," heck even "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things" (2021)). So, what's supposed to be special about this one? Not that its comedy relies on a man's butt, as it's a remake of that, but that it specifically relies on the supposed humor of the backside and crotch-holding front of Marlon Wayans. The extent to which his repeatedly waking up undressed in an elevator is amusing is very slight.

Yet, even that's preferable to the latter half of the picture that turns to the sentimental garbage of him trying to become a better husband-to-be as he races to get dressed and prepared, hour-upon-the-same-hour, for his wedding. The cosmic punishment of it doesn't even fit as well as it did Bill Murray's Phil Connors, who although he may've been amusing to view from the outside would likely be an unpleasant egocentric to be near. Wayans's Rob, however, is a nice guy who is the victim of a crime. Maybe he's unreliable and has a problem with purchasing lottery tickets, but big whoop--is the moral here really that one must get a full-time job and perform a supposedly-perfect wedding. I just reviewed the latest déjà vu burger "The Map of Tiny Perfect Things," too, where I complained that it lacked any of the manifold compelling manifestations of the concept, including cinematic and video-game reflexivity, intriguing genre twists and philosophical musings. "Naked" is even worse.

At least the newer movie features the characters taking some time from their infinite supply of it to more-fully explore their surroundings and have some fun and maybe even learn maths, and at least it's relatively consistent in its repetition. I mean, where does that third security guard at the hotel come from? Why wasn't he in prior naked landings? Is this reverse "Russian Doll" where the world is becoming more complete the more it's repeated? Why are all the interactions with the maid of honor with the groom? Does the bride not have friends? Is she a character or merely a goal for the hero's quest? What happened to the pigeons flying into the church? Maybe if "Naked" were consistently funny, none of this would much matter, but it isn't.

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".

Netflix is casting its net very wide by agreeing to distribute this film and appeal to all audiences. I didn't find this film too bad. It is an easy watch during the holidays as we need a mindless and simple film now and then. Put it this way if you watched Interstellar and Tenet recently or in the same week you'd benefit from giving your brain a rest by watching this. Its funny quirky and quite silly but not worth any hate at the same time.