{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Marci X | image = Marci X.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Richard Benjamin | producer = Scott Rudin | writer = Paul Rudnick | starring = {{Plainlist| * Lisa Kudrow * Damon Wayans * Richard Benjamin * Christine Baranski * Paula Garcés }}<!--Per poster billing block.--> | music = Mervyn Warren | cinematography = Robbie Greenberg | editing = Jacqueline Cambas | studio = Scott Rudin Productions | distributor = Paramount Pictures | released = {{Film date|2003|08|22}} | runtime = 84 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $20 million<ref name=mojo/> | gross = $1.7 million<ref name=mojo/> }} '''''Marci X''''' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin, written by Paul Rudnick, and starring Lisa Kudrow as Jewish-American Princess Marci Feld, who has to take control of a hip-hop record label, as well as the controversial rapper Dr. S, played by Damon Wayans. The film was released on August 22, 2003, by Paramount Pictures. It received negative reviews and was a box office flop, grossing $1.7 million worldwide against a $20 million budget.
==Plot== Marci Feld, a spoiled Jewish-American princess, is forced to take control of her father Ben's hardcore rap label Felony Assault when he suffers a stress-induced heart attack due to the controversy surrounding the label's release of "Shoot Ya' Teacha" by Dr. S. To rescue her father's plummeting stock, Marci attempts to tone down the rapper's bad-boy image. Over time, the unlikely pair falls in love just as conservative senator Mary Ellen Spinkle vows to banish Dr. S and his offensive lyrics from the airwaves forever.
==Cast== {{div col}} * Lisa Kudrow as Marci Feld * Damon Wayans as Dr. S * Richard Benjamin as Ben Feld * Jane Krakowski as Lauren Farb * Christine Baranski as Mary Ellen Spinkle * Paula Garcés as Yolanda Quinones * Charles Kimbrough as Lane Strayfield * Veanne Cox as Caitlin Mellowitz * Sherie Rene Scott as Kirsten Blatt * Nashawn Kearse as Quantrelle * Billy Griffith as Tubby Fenders * Andrew Keenan-Bolger as Chip Spinkle * Matthew Morrison as Boyz R Us Member * Gerry Becker as Dr. Skellar * Bruce Altman as Stan Dawes * Walter Bobbie as Walt Seldon * Mustafa Shakir as Engine Trouble * Kaity Tong as herself * Jim Watkins as himself * Mary Murphy as herself * Zach Tyler Eisen as Boy * Alexandra Neil as Auction Woman * Mimi Weddell as Auction Woman * Mary Hart as herself * Hassan Johnson as Tinfoil * Jade Yorker as Teenager * Queen Esther as Audience Member * Dean Edwards as Audience Member * Lisa Emery as Parent * Ted Sutton as Chuck Farley * Erik LaRay Harvey as Stage Manager * Myk Watford as Police Officer * Nancy Opel as Reporter * Jack Koenig as Reporter * Steven Wishnoff as Prison Drag Queen (credited as Steven E Wishnoff) {{div col end}}
==Production== In September 2000, the Paul Rudnick scripted ''Marci X'', a fish-out-of-water comedy following a Jewish American Princess who is forced to take control of a hard-core hip-hop record label and address the controversy of one of its label's artists, was one of the Scott Rudin Productions produced films fast-tracked into production in order to have releasable product on hand in the event of possible strikes by the writers and actors guilds.<ref name="MarciXVar">{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2000/film/news/strike-threat-lights-fire-under-rudin-1117786843/|title=Strike threat lights fire under Rudin|magazine=Variety|access-date=June 27, 2025|archive-date=June 27, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250627025949/https://variety.com/2000/film/news/strike-threat-lights-fire-under-rudin-1117786843/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MarciXKudrowVar">{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2000/film/news/kudrow-to-take-the-rap-for-rudin-in-marci-x-1117788519/|title=Kudrow to take the rap for Rudin in 'Marci X'|magazine=Variety|access-date=June 27, 2025|archive-date=June 27, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250627030732/https://variety.com/2000/film/news/kudrow-to-take-the-rap-for-rudin-in-marci-x-1117788519/|url-status=live}}</ref> The following month it was announced Lisa Kudrow was in talks to star in the film.<ref name= "MarciXKudrowVar"/>
Chris Rock was offered the role of Dr. S, but turned it down as he did not like the script.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2012/08/the-lost-roles-of-chris-rock.html|title=The Lost Roles of Chris Rock|last=Evans|first=Bradford|website=Vulture|date=August 30, 2012|access-date=December 13, 2021|archive-date=June 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614130227/https://www.vulture.com/2012/08/the-lost-roles-of-chris-rock.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Reception== ===Box office=== ''Marci X'' earned $872,950 in its opening weekend, ranking #18 in the North American box office from 1,200 venues.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2003&wknd=34&p=.htm | title=Weekend Box Office Results for August 22-24, 2003 | website=Box Office Mojo | publisher=IMDb | date=August 25, 2003 | accessdate=November 19, 2016 | archive-date=August 26, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826094550/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2003&wknd=34&p=.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> The film grossed $1,648,818 at the North American box office, and $26,888 overseas for a worldwide total of $1,675,706. Based on a $20 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.<ref name=mojo>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marcix.htm | title=''Marci X'' (2003) | website=Box Office Mojo | publisher=IMDb | date=September 18, 2003 | accessdate=November 19, 2016 | archive-date=January 31, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131094725/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=marcix.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>
===Critical response=== {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|8|3.4|61|The material is too thin for feature-length, and the jokes are socially outdated and clueless.|access-date=February 25, 2024|ref=yes}} {{Metacritic film prose|20|17|ref=yes|access-date=November 19, 2016}}
Wesley Morris of ''The Boston Globe'' felt the film had "no idea what to make of black people or hip-hop culture", noting how Rudnick's script is filled with "half-hearted structuring" and is "exasperating in its enervated, politically toothless jabs." He concluded that ''Marci X'' is "just clueless and sad, seemingly having missed the point that hip-hop is no longer a novelty to be slapped on the cheek with a white glove."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2003/08/23/marci_x_doesnt_know_hip_from_hop/|title='Marci X' doesn't know hip from hop|last=Morris|first=Wesley|author-link=Wesley Morris|newspaper=The Boston Globe|publisher=Boston.com|date=August 23, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507134824/http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2003/08/23/marci_x_doesnt_know_hip_from_hop/|archive-date=May 7, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Nathan Rabin of ''The A.V. Club'' also criticized Rudnick's scripting of the film for being "a series of skit ideas strung together", and felt that Wayans was "woefully miscast as a charismatic thug." He concluded by calling it "the year's most misguided culture-clash comedy."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/marci-x-1798198825|title=''Marci X''|last=Rabin|first=Nathan|author-link=Nathan Rabin|newspaper=The A.V. Club|publisher=The Onion|date=August 26, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124103148/https://film.avclub.com/marci-x-1798198825|archive-date=November 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Austin Chronicle''{{'}}s Marjorie Baumgarten felt the premise was filled with "possibilities for good culture-clash humor à la ''Rock 'n' Roll High School''," but played everything straightforward, saying that it "exudes the familiar stench of stale comedy routinely tossed into theatres by the studios in the dog days of August when no one's really looking anyway."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2003-08-29/173819/|title=''Marci X'' - Movie Review|last=Baumgarten|first=Marjorie|newspaper=The Austin Chronicle|date=August 29, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228084234/https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/2003-08-29/173819/|archive-date=December 28, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Ed Gonzalez from ''Slant Magazine'' wrote that: "''Marci X'' is a sketch comedy that misses more than it hits. And not unlike Danny DeVito's ''Death to Smoochy'', the worst thing that can be said about it is that it's a good decade too late."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/marci-x|title=Review: ''Marci X''|last=Gonzalez|first=Ed|magazine=Slant Magazine|date=January 27, 2004|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603130541/https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/marci-x/|archive-date=June 3, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Mick LaSalle of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' called it "a dishonest satire that manages to be (disingenuously) contemptuous of white people and (unintentionally) condescending toward black people, without ever being funny."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/An-equal-opportunity-mess-Marci-has-an-insult-2559919.php|title=An equal-opportunity mess / 'Marci' has an insult for everyone|last=LaSalle|first=Mick|author-link=Mick LaSalle|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|publisher=Hearst Corporation|date=August 23, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211044632/https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/An-equal-opportunity-mess-Marci-has-an-insult-2559919.php|archive-date=December 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
The film received some positive reviews. Armond White praised the film's satire of its subject matter, saying it "sarcastically tackles hip hop sanctimony at a time in which it should be ripe for debunking." He also gave note of the performances of Wayans and Kudrow, saying that "Both these experienced comic performers understand that comedy respects no sacred cows. They are merciless in their satirical routines out of respect for the truth of human behavior."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africana.com/reviews/moviestv/mtv20030829marcix.asp|title=Africana Reviews: ''Marci X''|last=White|first=Armond|author-link=Armond White|website=Africana|date=August 29, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030831020556/http://www.africana.com/reviews/moviestv/mtv20030829marcix.asp|archive-date=August 31, 2003|url-status=dead|df=mdy}}</ref> Jonathan Rosenbaum from the ''Chicago Reader'' said, "It's no masterpiece, but I found it consistently good-hearted and sometimes hilarious, and the sparse crowd I saw it with was laughing as much as I was, especially at the outrageous rap numbers."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/24204_MARCI_X|title=''Marci X''|last=Rosenbaum|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Rosenbaum|newspaper=Chicago Reader|publisher=Sun-Times Media Group|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031017195236/http://onfilm.chicagoreader.com/movies/capsules/24204_MARCI_X|archive-date=October 17, 2003|url-status=dead|df=mdy}}</ref> ''Entertainment Weekly''{{'}}s Lisa Schwarzbaum commended the movie for being a "lighter-than-''Bulworth'' commentary on class, politics, and art" despite feeling "disconnected from its own objects of ridicule", calling it "a talent-stuffed assemblage of barbs and giddy musical numbers that shouldn't be written off as a feature flop — but savored instead for the cult-ready collection of late-night satirical skits and misses it is."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://ew.com/article/2003/09/05/marci-x-3/|title=''Marci X''|last=Schwarzbaum|first=Lisa|author-link=Lisa Schwarzbaum|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=September 5, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211044629/http://ew.com/article/2003/09/05/marci-x-3/|archive-date=December 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0266747|Marci X}} * {{TCMDb title|449540|Marci X}} * {{Mojo title|marcix|Marci X}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|marci_x|Marci X}} * {{Metacritic film|title=Marci X}} * {{AFI film|62828}}
{{Richard Benjamin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marci X}} Category:2003 films Category:2003 American films Category:2003 musical films Category:2003 romantic comedy films Category:2003 English-language films Category:2000s hip-hop films Category:African-American films Category:American romantic comedy films Category:English-language musical films Category:English-language romantic comedy films Category:Films about interracial romance Category:Films about Jews and Judaism Category:Films directed by Richard Benjamin Category:Films produced by Scott Rudin Category:Films shot in New York City Category:Films with screenplays by Paul Rudnick Category:Paramount Pictures films