HE'S DOWN TO EARTH ROCK FINDS CARRYING A MOVIE IS A HEAVY LOAD.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

It's a long way down to Earth from New Jack City and Cell Block Four.

But Chris Rock, Emmy-winning TV comic, stand-up sensation, best-selling author and recording artist, is confident that he's finally going to become a big movie star this year after a decade's worth of false starts and flavorsome supporting roles.

``In Hollywood, and they're right, you're not famous until you've done something really good,'' notes the ever-observant, Brooklyn-bred comedian. ``All that other stuff doesn't count. It just doesn't. You might as well have done porno. When I did 'Lethal Weapon' (the fourth one, in 1998), everybody said, 'In his first movie!' Fine, I'll take it. We even did 'New Jack City' at Warner Bros. ('Lethal's' distributor, in 1991), and they were still like, 'We've got him in his first movie!' But this is by far the biggest role I've had in a movie. Just had to work more.''

Rock is referring to the new release ``Down to Earth,'' a remake of Warren Beatty's ``Heaven Can Wait'' and its antecedent, the 1941 reincarnation comedy ``Here Comes Mr. Jordan.'' Besides headlining a movie for the first time since his prescient-but-misfired gangsta rap satire ``CB4'' eight years ago, Rock also executive-produced and wrote the script with three collaborators from his recently completed, award-winning HBO comedy series ``The Chris Rock Show.''

The movie stars Rock, in a double stretch, as two things he definitely is not, never has been and never will be: a talentless aspiring comic named Lance Barton (Rock was knocking 'em dead at comedy clubs before he was old enough to legally patronize them) and, after he's accidentally killed before his divinely appointed time, as a rich old white guy.

In practically every scene and often having to play multiple levels of reality at once, ``Down to Earth'' tested Rock's acting chops more than anything he's done since his startling, super-dramatic turn as a doomed crack addict in ``New Jack.''

``The biggest challenge was just to try to give an even performance,'' Rock, who turned 35 last week, claims. ``I've never been in a movie that long, so I've never had to concentrate for more than, like, a couple of weeks. In two weeks, you can get a guy down, you're fine. Now, I've got a scene on Monday, and we might not go back to that part of the movie for a month, so I've got to somehow maintain this performance.

``Another big thing, which I kind of learned on 'Nurse Betty,' was just to be funny within the context of the movie, not to stop the movie for my comedic riffs. That's the biggest challenge, to tell you the truth; to hold back, actually.''

``Down to Earth'' showcases the sweet side of the outrageous, often raunchy comic, especially as his reborn self tries to court a skeptical social activist played by ``Jerry Maguire's'' Regina King. But unlike some comedians who desperately wish to be taken seriously, Rock dismisses the notion that a dramatic acting career is in the cards.

`` 'New Jack City' was 80 percent director, 20 percent me,'' he cheerfully admits. ``I mean, I just listened and kept asking what to do. That was more about being a good soldier than anything.

``This was a different kind of acting. In a sense, it was like acting single, since I've been married for three years (to publicist Malaak Compton). The stuff with Regina, it was like flirting, really trying to work it like I haven't had to work it for a long time. < ``But acting's not important at all. I don't mind a little drama as a supporting player, but to lead a drama? I don't think so. There's no better experience than to make a theater full of people laugh. So, for me to subject an audience to me in a drama, even if it's good, it's a letdown. Even if it's an Academy Award-quality movie. ... Hey, I love 'The Truman Show,' but it ain't 'Dumb and Dumber.' That was genius, sheer genius! Look, I love Denzel, but I'd rather see Eddie Murphy, I'd rather laugh. Most people would. You want to hang out with somebody and have a think tank or would you rather hang out with a friend and laugh?''

Rock's irrepressible funniness presented ``Down to Earth's'' directors, ``American Pie'' brothers Chris and Paul Weitz, with a unique situation when Lance is supposed to bomb out at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater.

``It was tough directing a crowd of extras sitting in the audience not to think that Chris Rock was funny,'' says Paul. ``You still hear the occasional titter, even when they're trying to stop themselves from laughing.''

``Plus, Chris's instinct is, of course, to make a crowd laugh,'' Chris Weitz adds. ``Sometimes I could see him pushing and improvising, even if it was going to ruin the take. In general, though, I thought it was pretty brave of him just to go out there and get booed off. But he was up for it.''

The inclination to bring the laughs comes naturally enough, according to Rock - although it comes from a somewhat unexpected source.

``My family was really funny,'' says Rock, whose father was a newspaper truck driver. ``Grandfather: preacher. Great-grandfather: preacher. Other side: preacher. Lotta preachers. Preaching, stand-up - not all that different. I could get my last HBO special, take out all the sex, take all the cursing out, and most of that stuff you can say in a sermon. There's a lot of preaching in my blood, and it comes out from time to time.''

That's evident in the acute social, political and racial observations that mark Rock as much more than a guy who needs explicit rudeness to get laughs. From his three-year stint on ``Saturday Night Live'' to his perceptive election commentary for ``Politically Incorrect'' to the uproarious current events segments on ``The Chris Rock Show,'' intelligent topical humor has been a hallmark.

``I try to stay informed,'' he acknowledges. ``A lot of times, I'll see a comic on TV or something who's good but doesn't quite have it, and I like to go, 'Y'know, he's a smart friend from being really great.' I try to hang out with smart people who say smart stuff around me. Hopefully, it all seeps in.''

How much of that will make the transition should Rock attain true movie stardom remains to be seen. Recent film roles in the likes of ``Nurse Betty'' and ``Dogma'' have had that characteristic wicked bite, but like most perceptive TV comedians, he also has his share of dumbed-down ``Beverly Hills Ninjas'' and ``Dr. Dolittles'' on his resume.

The upcoming slate looks promising, though. Rock will be headlining ``Pootie Tang,'' based on a character from his show who is the last free agent in a corporate-controlled near future, and he voices an animated white blood cell in the Farrelly brothers' biological comedy ``Osmosis Jones.'' And even though there is a Jerry Bruckheimer headbanger called ``Black Sheep'' on tap, at least it co-stars Anthony Hopkins, and you can't get classier than that.

All in all, the movie outlook is pretty promising. At the very least, Rock doesn't have to worry if he's going to be remembered for the last one anymore.

``It's going good, I can't complain,'' he says, flashing that megawatt, ingratiating smile. ``There are negatives, but it's a small price to pay for the way I live. I have a good life; house, car, in a part of Brooklyn not where I grew up ...''

Of course, there's always room for improvement.

``I wouldn't mind moving to Manhattan, but it costs so much,'' Rock notes, launching into one of his laugh-in-plain-sight observations. ``I haven't made that much money. Think about it; I've been on HBO for all these years, before that I was on 'SNL'. This movie is probably the first time I've gotten a big, obscene hunk of money for something. The butler on 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' has a bigger house than I do. My HBO show? Yes, it's 'The Chris Rock Show'. David Spade, on 'Just Shoot Me,' probably made four times as much as me - and has syndication!

``Of course, it's all too much money,'' Rock notes, typically unwilling to stray too far from reality. ``You're always overpaid. But I still can't afford to live in Manhattan.

``I feel like I've earned whatever I've gotten, though. And the great thing about something like 'CB4' not working out is, I know how to fix things now when they're not going good. Those are the real skills, to just be able to deal with problems that I didn't know what to do with before. It's achieving some level of competence.''

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3 photos

Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) ROCK star

Comic Chris Rock puts his acting chops to the test in `Down to Earth'

(2) Emmy winner Chris Rock stars as down-and-out comic Lance Barton in ``Down to Earth,'' a remake of ``Heaven Can Wait.''

(3) Directors Chris Weitz, left, Paul Weitz, and star Chris Rock on the set of ``Down to Earth