Friday After Next: End of the Week
Friday After Next: End of the WeekAt the beginning of this week, I didn't anticipate that my reviews for the new James Bond flick Die Another Day and the new Ice Cube/Mike Epps team-up Friday After Next were going to be so similar. So, at the risk of repeating myself, let me just give you my brief critic's advice right up front. If you were a die-hard fan of the first two Friday comedies written by and starring rapper Cube, definitely see this latest installment. It's a funny, well-paced, sentimental return to the 'hood. However, if you have never seen a Friday flick or have only mildly found Friday and Next Friday funny, you may want to sit this one out.
I personally liked the movie, because I was so familiar with the characters from the first two films and enjoyed seeing them again in this silly, profane Christmas tale. Friday After Next takes place one dreary Dec. 24 for pothead cousins Craig (Cube) and Day-Day (Epps). A ghetto Santa has broken in and stolen all of the presents under their tree, as well as some stuff from around their apartment (that's right, the two guys no longer with their folks). Unfortunately, the thief made off with a set of stereo speakers that contained the two guys' rent money for the month.
Forced to work as unarmed security guards at a local strip mall, the film follows the formula of showing us a whole day in the life of these guys as they tangle with a menagerie of characters. John Witherspoon and Don "D.C." Curry are still around, bickering like older, fiftysomething versions of Craig and Day-Day. Some of the new characters are really funny, too. Katt Williams stands out as a local clothing store operator who claims to live the pimp lifestyle, but is really a cross between Prince and Morris Day right down to Prince's hair and Day's over-the-top stride and cartoonish laugh. I also couldn't help but laugh at Terry Crews as Damon, the enormous ex-con son of Craig and Day-Day's landlord who after years in prison ... uh, now plays for the other team, if you know what I mean.
Without a doubt, Friday After Next is not for the easily offended. The jokes are sexist, misogynist, all the "ists." For women tired of watching movies in which they are referred to as "bitches" and "ho's," you're not going to enjoy this flick. Did it offend me? Oh, please. Michael Jackson dangling his kid off a German balcony outraged me. Two guys rocking the gonge and making "ho" jokes? Nah! I was just happy screenwriter Ice Cube played down the usual dumb, square "white guy" gags. The only white folk in the flick are actually cops who are more interested in eating donuts and getting high off Craig and Day-Day's confiscated marijuana plants than beating down the brothers. And I can't help it. I think Mike Epps' is just hilarious with his false bravado and silly facial expressions. He can make me laugh just when he walks into a room and says nothing.
Like I said, I enjoyed Friday After Next. But mostly because I had seen the other Friday flicks. And, hey, I'm a sucker for holiday movies. They get me every time. And, of course, whether it's a white Xmas flick or a black Xmas flick, the formula is still the same. One character laments, "Well, it looks like we're not gonna have a Christmas." Then, something happens and it's "No, wait!" I swear, man. Gets me every friggin' time!
Sigh. Christmas in the 'hood. Ho, ho ... ahem, ho.
Friday After Next is rated R for profanity, drug references, and violence, most of it cartoonish fist-fighting.
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