Marci X

Screenwriter Paul Rudnick (Adams Family Values, In and Out) had an interesting idea that just didn't pan out into a worthwhile movie. It could have made a funny seven-minute "Saturday Night Live" sketch -- a culture clash between a pampered Jewish socialite and a "ghetto fabulous" rap star. But the shelf life of satire is rarely long enough to sustain a movie production schedule, and much of the material in MARCI X feels outdated already. Are we still making fun of boy bands? And how long has it been since Bill Gates was an eligible bachelor? The material here is so slight that it is not enough to sustain an entire movie, and the absence of any comic energy whatsoever in Richard Benjamin's direction makes it seem endless even at a less than 90-minute running time.

Rudnick manages a couple of sassy comebacks, but ultimately is reduced to stealing from himself with a poor re-enactment of the best scene from In and Out. Many of the set-ups are painfully flat, especially a weird fund-raiser for a purportedly funny medical condition -- lack of feeling in the arms, demonstrated by poking children with forks. Kudrow's offbeat line readings provide some punch and Paula Garces parodies J.Lo (in her Puff Daddy phase) with some spirit. But Wayans just sounds whiny and about as threatening as a daffodil.