Important movie fact: sometimes when the studio "thinks" a movie will get (at best) mixed reviews, they either don't screen it for the press at all, or only for major dailies like the Chicago Sun Times or Chicago Tribune. When they "know" the film will get across-the-board negative reviews, it's not screened for anyone. Such is the case with this film, "Marci X," and "My Boss's Daughter," both opened on August 22nd. While this practice is arguably unfair for reporters writing to make a living, it's undoubtedly a rip-off of the people who pay with their hard-earned money to see a movie. With only marketing spin on the film, the studio hopes to suck you in on opening weekend to see the movie before reviews show up and bad word of mouth spreads.

Marci (Lisa Kudrow) is a Jewish American Princess who takes a leadership role at her father's (Richard Benjamin) conglomerate when he becomes ill. One of their holdings is a recording subsidiary that promotes extreme gangster rap, and is being threatened with a boycott by Senator Spinkle (Christine Baranski). She finds the new CD by Dr. S (Damon Wayans) offensive and immoral. With a song like "Shoot the Teacher," we are reminded that "free speech" does not mean you can or should be allowed to say literally anything, anywhere, anytime (e.g., yelling fire in a movie theater or "I have a bomb in my shoe" at the airport).

"Marci X" has the seed of a good film but falls flat with the evolution of the story and some of the casting, most notably Damon Wayans. The story wants to show that various cultures are not as far apart as they may seem on the surface. It attempts to illustrate the importance of free speech, and that interracial love is no big deal. The film satirizes people like P Diddy, and rap stars who run their businesses from a jail cell. It comments on the overexposure of stars in tabloid rags to the point that you no longer care (e.g. Affleck and J-Lo in "Gigli," which was not a good picture but not as bad as the box office numbers indicate).

The one saving grace for "Marci X" is that it does "try" to make us think and there are a few laughs here and there. Other than that, this is a movie that managed to slip through the cracks and get made when it should not have. It's like a bad night on SNL that runs long¾without commercials.