Next Friday (2000)

This is the bad mutherfucker man. This thing rocks. I would try to do my whole review in cool, hip, urban, gangsta lingo except I really don't know how to talk like that. And truth be told, you don't have to know that in order to enjoy Ice Cube's follow-up to the wildly successful 1995 comedy, "Friday." Cube's world isn't so insider that us average white people can't enjoy it. In fact, in the changing multicultural suburban MTV-infested landscape, Cube's world fits in pretty nicely as an accurate portrayal of modern suburban youth. If you live in the 'burbs, this won't be new territory for you.

And if you didn't see the first one, don't worry, Cube sets it all up for you in about 2 minutes at the film's beginning. It also sets up much of the storyline to spin out from this film too. Cube takes some characters from the first film, throws in a batch of funny new guys, and comes out on top yet again.

The best thing about "Next Friday" is Mike Epps. Playing Day-Day, a fast-talking wussy dropped in the middle of middle-upper class suburbia, Epps steals every scene he is in. He's just damn funny. Maybe not as funny as Chris Tucker. But damn funny nonetheless. He makes the spirit of "Next Friday" soar. This is a comedic actor to watch. He needs some time to fine tune, but when he finally is able to drop the bomb on us, watch out! He will kill us all with crazed insanity.

Of course, it's a spirit flying high on Cube's imagination and a blunt or two as well. The film begins with one of the funniest credits sequences to be seen in a while. Cube pays homage to Cheech and Chong and we begin to understand the concept of the story here. Weed as a motif. Cube creates a realistic world where every crazy and funny damn thing happens for us to laugh at. Sure, there's some stereotypes, some obvious scatalogical humor and some contrivances splattered here and there across the screen, but who cares? It's funny. I suppose Jacob Vargas' Latino character Joker is pretty offensive, in a way. Playing a "vato" with a ski cap pulled down as far as Bill Cosby's animated Dumb Donald's hat was in the 70's, Vargas is nothing but stereotypical. But he's so amiable and so funny that we don't even dislike him when he plays the villain here. We see through Cube's stereotypes to the heart of the humor he is fronting here. It's funny. And the character works. And we like him. So stereotypes be damned. We see the ridiculousness of it anyway (and it's gentle truth as well). And, perhaps, a black man can be forgiven more easily for his trespasses in cinematic formulaic characterizations. (Surely if this film were made by white people, the humor might be more suspect).

"Next Friday" offers a wealth of African-American talent a chance to shine for a broad audience. John Witherspoon, Don "DC" Curry, Clifton Powell, Lady of Rage (a female rapper), Sticky Fingaz, and Kym E. Whitley all prove themselves worthy comedians. Justin Pierce, a white guy who was in "Kids" and looked a hell of a lot younger, and Amy Hill, a large Asian woman who I best remember from TV's "All American Girl" also add some fun moments. The cast here, almost none of them well-known, prove themselves capable of carrying the comedy banner into the new century. It's hard to find someone in the film who isn't funny and seemingly having the time of his/her life. It's great fun to watch.

"Next Friday" also once again proves that Ice Cube is a talent to be reckoned with. Not merely a rapper in a funny movie, Cube proves himself behind the scenes as well here by continuing to write scripts and produce films that erase barriers in the marketplace. "Next Friday," following Cube's marvelous array of acting work in numerous popular films, is the latest in the continuing series of small, personal Ice Cube films that prove themselves worthy of consideration as some of the best films from the turn of the century. Following "Friday" and "Player's Club" and allowing Cube to prove more than just his worth as a performer, writer and producer, "Next Friday" begins to etch in stone a career that may just eliminate the need for film reviews, like this one, that seem to find it necessary to have some focus on his race. And perhaps make that a reality for the new breed of other performers and filmmakers of color as well. Note: Cube is sole author of this script and acts as Executive Producer. Director is Steve Carr, making his feature film debut.

Report Card

Script: A-

Acting: A-

Cinematography\Lighting: B-

Special Effects\Make Up: A

Music: A+

Final Grade: A