Clothes Optional?
Ever wonder what it is like to have to relive the same hour over and over again? Now what about having to relive that hour over and over again, naked. If that seems strange, terrifying, or maybe even funny, then director Michael Tiddes’ Naked is a movie for you. On the day of his wedding, substitute teacher Rob Anderson (Marlon Waylans) wakes up stuck in a broken hotel elevator, naked and clueless to the events of his bachelor party the night before. After the elevator gets fixed and only an hour before his wedding, he rushes to get a key to his hotel room, but is denied since the room was unknowingly booked under his fiancé's best friend’s name. Rob calls his best man who is already at the wedding and unwilling to help him. He ends up getting kicked out of the hotel and into a race happening on the street. Mind you, he is still naked and franticly starts running in the race to try and get to the church faster. Instead he finds himself in jail for streaking. While in the middle of calling his fiancé Megan (Regina Hall), the church bell rings and he is suddenly back in time to the moment of waking up naked in the broken elevator. Rob finds himself having to repeat the same hour over again until he learns that he needs to act responsibly and understand the sanctimony of marriage.
Throughout the movie, the theme of responsibility is shown through Rob and his lack of it. He declines a full time teaching job because he fears the commitment that it takes while being blind to the fact that he is an adult and having a stable job is part of that. He even would have missed his flight to his own wedding if Megan did not rebook the flight after learning he was going to be late. He also lacks understanding of the commitment/responsibility that comes with marriage. He believes he is doing fine where he is at now, but Megan’s father Reginald’s (Dennis Haysbert) higher approval of her millionaire ex boyfriend pushes Rob to prove himself worthy enough for her. In fact, her father believes that he did not send his daughter to become a doctor to marry this immature, uncommitted “man”. The first conversation between Rob and Reginald started with her father criticizing him for putting the wrong font on the programs and wearing a sweater instead of a jacket to the wedding rehearsal. He also believes Rob does not understand the sanctimony of marriage. Even his best man Ben believes this when he asks about Rob’s vows. Rob says he was just going to wing them and Ben replies by saying that this is his wedding and he can’t just half-ass it. Megan’s father says marriage is a full-time job with overtime and no summers off and he has to fully commit to his wife. His father questions Rob’s ability to do this since he can’t even commit to a full time job. By having to repeat the same hour, this forces Rob to pause and think about his life and his role in it for the future instead of living in the past. Since he is an adult, he has to take on more responsibility, but he is still stuck in this teenage mindset where he struggles to fully commit to anything. This brings us to the idea that more responsibility is put on someone as time moves forward and as they grow older. However, where we put this idea of responsibility can be different for everyone. For example, if someone chooses not to marry, they do not have to focus on the well being of a spouse and can focus more on another important thing in their life, like a job or a hobby. Although the movie does not clearly state why he is repeating the same hour, we can infer that until he is able to make it to the alter and learns responsibility and the true meaning of marriage; he will have to continue repeating the same hour.
This is the type of movie expected to be directed by Michael Tiddes. Unlike a Haunted House and Fifty Shades Of Black, Naked is not a parody of an already popular movie, but it still uses the same kind of humor. All of these movies use personal or public humiliation as humor. In the instance of the movie Naked, the fact that he is naked in public majority of the movie evokes embarrassment, but the jokes throughout the film make this movie less disturbing to watch. Tiddies’ movie is similar to the plots of movies Groundhog Day and Premature. Groundhogs Day describes a weatherman who goes out to report the events of Groundhogs Day but gets caught in a snow storm and ends up having to repeat the same day over again until he gets it right. Director Dan Beer’s Premature gives a story about a teenager who is forced to relive the same day over again every time he ejaculates in the presence of a pretty girl from school. Until he realizes his true feelings are for one of his close friends. All three of these movies use the repetition of time to show a hidden message and a lesson to the main character. This element makes you have to really watch the movie to understand the deeper meaning the director is trying to portray.
One actor’s performance stood out most to me, Marlon Wayans. Known for his roles in the movies White Chicks, Scary Movie, and Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood, his role as Rob Anderson stands out from the less serious roles in these movies. Serious as in the emotions of the character and not importance of the character. Although Naked is a comedy, Waylan’s character has to look for a deeper meaning behind the time loop instead of just playing a goofy character. However, Waylan’s character still provides many comedic moments. How he has to memorize the day and use that to make it to the alter is funny to me. Specifically the parts were he fights Cody and relives many days to this exact moment to memorize Cody’s next moves to eventually win the fight. Rob also realizes that the ambulance provides the fastest way to the church so he repeatedly throws himself in front of cars to ride it. Marlon Waylan’s excellent and unique performance is what made this movie stand out from his other works.
What I enjoyed about this film was how well the characters worked together. The movie was well casted and it made it more enjoyable to watch. What I believe helped contribute to this was few of the main characters have worked in other films together. Marlon Wayans and Regina Hall both starred in the parody movie Scary Movie. Wayans also starred in the movies A Haunted House and Fifty Shades of Black which were directed by Michael Tiddes. One thing I disliked about this movie was how the repetition of the days got redundant and made the movie feel longer than it actually was. Overall, this movie is a humorous twist to a common movie plot. Grade: B
