Review

In remaking both Here Comes Mr. Jordan and Heaven Can Wait, it would seem that writer and actor Rock would have found the perfect backdrop -- that of stand-up comedy -- to replace the sports themes of the previous two films. Unfortunately, unmemorable one-liners, mostly about race and sex, and static pacing are what make up Down to Earth, an uninspired concoction with too few laughs. Rock plays a struggling comedian who is spirited away to Heaven before his time. The man in charge, Mr. King (Palminteri, who plays this angel as a Sinatra-loving goodfella), finds hims another body -- that of a rich, white businessman. He falls for a neighborhood activist while trying for a comedy spot at the Apollo. The plotting is fairly identical to the first two films, but the laughs are noticeably missing. With this premise and cast, you expect Richard Pryor but get amateur night on the WB.