Marci X (2003)

If you're looking for maybe the most effective hip-hop satire to date, you'll find it in an unusual place -- a little-seen Lisa Kudrow vehicle called Marci X. There's a reason not many people caught Richard Benjamin's film, as its weaknesses probably outnumber its strengths. But its strengths are memorable, driven by Paul Rudnick's script, which strikes just the right satirical tone, and just enough Legally Blonde-style fluff. Avoiding the tendencies of such over-the-top rap spoofs as CB4 and Malibu's Most Wanted, Rudnick keeps things believable enough to work as sly commentary, while still zany enough to qualify as parody. For example, the prototypical Dr. S' misogynist sex anthem -- "Power in My Pants," confidently rapped by Damon Wayans -- is not only pretty close to sounding like a real song, but its infectious beat lingers in the viewer's consciousness (props to songwriters Marc Shaiman and Mervyn Warren on that one). Among the actors, Wayans is key to reining in his director's more slapstick instincts, which get the better of Benjamin during a scene in which a stuffy senator (Christine Baranski) gets her groove on via some pretty un-senatorial dance moves. In smartly underplaying Dr. S, Wayans helps Rudnick's jokes -- such as a jailed rap mogul who pimps out his cell and has a prison posse -- land more solidly. Kudrow has charming moments, and shows her own fitness for rhyming, but her character is played more for broad laughter. Neither of the two main characters is what you would call deep, and the narrative is disjointed and hurried in running less than 85 minutes. But with isolated sharp observations on the language and cultural cachet of rap music, Marci X has a little something extra to set it apart. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide