Chris Rock stars a happily married, successful man whose seven year marriage stars to feel a little itchy when an old acquaintance, Kerry Washington, shows up at his workplace in need of a favor. The favor turns to lunch, the lunch turns to regular afternoons together, and those afternoons begin to lead to a place Chris Rock's bored family man isn't sure he's prepared to go.

Much of Chris Rock's funnier standup work recently has been about the difference between his married life and his single life, and this film's subject matter would seem to give him a great forum for such humor. There are some great observations, most of which will be familiar to anyone who's seen the latest HBO specials from either Rock or his co-writer Louis C.K., but the is humor is sparsely scattered though what is essentially a drama. A couple of the gags, including an incident with viagra and an embarrassing episode of buying condoms from the drugstore are not only less than funny they are less than original. Much like last year's The Breakup or The Last Kiss, this is a relationship movie rather than a romantic comedy. Chris Rock, it seems, has grown up and the few scenes where the raunchy, R-rated Rock enters in are somewhat forced and uncomfortable, and seemingly out of character for his suit and tie buppy character.

The other topic Rock is typically known for riffing on, of course, is race. Having previously made the one note, what if a black guy were President comedy Head of State, one might expect that it would be front and center here as well. It is, but refreshingly not in the way one would expect. Rock's character is comfortably assimilated to his upper middle class lifestyle, the type of guy who sheepishly slinks away from the rap spouting messenger guy in the elevator and worries that his suburban kids won't have any black friends. Washington too, as the girl from his partying past, is surprisingly cosmopolitan. When they exchange iPods she introduces him to The Killers to move his musical tastes beyond Luther Vandross and Usher.

Adapted from a French film, this is a movie that could have starred anyone and just happens to star Chris Rock. While perhaps sociologically this is a plus, as far as the movie goes it almost seems a shame that Rock's considerable power of personality is hidden behind an air of respectability. As far as the other actors performances go, Gina Torres is, as is typical in this sort of story, utterly wasted in the role of the steadfast wife. Her role is simply that of dutiful mother and tired, sexless spouse with little other dimension added. Steve Buscemi adds his quirky charm as one of Rocks officemates and fans of HBO's The Wire will be pleased to see Omar and The Bunk in cameo roles.

Washington though, is really the only one given a true chance to shine here.Her temptress is more than just a one note sex object, but a long in the tooth party girl who takes too long to realize that it's four a.m. and everyone else has work in the morning. Her performance is, as it should be, seductive, and gives the film its central issue- growing up and accepting responsibility. Rock's character finds happiness, not simply because he has assimilated to middle class culture, but to adulthood. Ultimately we all have to grow up. Unfortunately, that's not very funny.