Naked is a remake of the 2000 Swedish film Naken. It is a Netflix Original romantic comedy about a guy who is pretty much naked for most of the movie. It also stars Regina Hall. The Girls Trip star seems to be appearing on Netflix alot recently. Or so my partner tells me.
What’s it about?
Confident, eccentric guy Rob Anderson is about to marry Megan, the girl of his dreams. Leading up to the big day everything seems okay, that is until the fateful night before the wedding when he decides to go out for ‘a drink’ with his best friend. He wakes up an hour before the wedding, naked in a broken elevator. With no clue of how to solve this predicament, Rob is forced to relive this agonising hour over and over again until he gets it right for his wedding day. Each time he gets it wrong, he wakes up again on the elevator floor. It is a time loop movie and it does this loop numerous times.
Is it good?
I honestly, hand on heart, believed Netflix was past regurgitating this generic rubbish but apparently not. I understand that this is based on a written story but surely this is not the product? Will Marlon Wayans ever be apart of something better than White Chicks? From a critical point of view, it is easy to discuss this in the three acts.
First act.
The first act is a crime to the eyes. Firstly, the entire narrative is not convincing because it does not set the character Rob (Marlon Wayans) up as someone who deserves an endless painful timeloop for his own wedding day. Sure, he is a bit of a fool, but it is not like he is a love rat that needs comeuppance to get his life in order. The movie peskily shoves his personality in your face and it is quite irritable. Romantic comedies undoubtedly need to make the audience laugh. Unfortunately, forcing comedy down the audiences’ throats makes the entire experience tiresome.
Second act.
The second act showcases the time loop. When I say showcases I mean I lost count to how many times it reset to the naked elevator scene. The second act is when I knew that this was a rushed film put together because they have made the entire narrative the gimmick putting zero thought into the depth of the plot. At first, I quite enjoyed the concept of a desperate man returning to the same situation, trying to courageously solve everything in 1 hour. The problem is the entire issue is only 1 hour. Does it really deserve to be over played? How about a flash back or some ploy to provide some emotional connection with your audience? I understand that there is an industry of comedy movies now that relies on gag after gag but building something like, for example, an interesting character keeps you engaged. It does not even give you that.
What makes it more frustrating is that by the end of the second act there is an entire gag that made me laugh for the first time and loudly. This only made me more annoyed once I gathered myself.
Third act.
More time loops. I wish I was joking. Imagine if Lord of the Rings showed the power of the ring in every scene to prove its point or if it showed Balboa boxing over and over again in Rocky. At one point I paused the film. I realised there were still thirty minutes left of the 90-minute feature and neither me or my partner cared if Rob was going to solve this situation.
You sound annoyed?
Not annoyed. I review movies because I like them. I love talking about them. There are times when my hobby comes under attack, and Naked is a prime example.
If you really want to see a well-crafted timeloop movie watch Run Lola Run.
