BACK IN STOCK: Just Added: Friday (1995) Can rappers act? That was the question asked by film critics back in the early 1990s when there seemed to be an exodus of hip hop stars heading to Hollywood. Ice Cube and Ice-T were at the forefront with leading roles in Boyz ‘n the Hood and New Jack City, respectively, and the two films opened the floodgates for many more to follow, but like many things in Hollywood, appearances by rappers in movies became saturated to the point of irritation. Ice Cube (real name: O’Shea Jackson) became quite a savvy Hollywood player, picking decent projects (such as David O. Russell’s Three Kings) and balancing them with surefire hits such as (the execrable) Anaconda. Soon after making the transition to cinema the rapper formed his own production company, the egocentrically monikered CubeVision and Friday was the first project out of its gates. Made by New Line Cinema, the indie company that had a proven track record in backing successful African-American features, Friday paired Cube with up-and-coming comedian Chris Tucker (The Fifth Element) and is in effect, a modern day Cheech and Chong film. The film’s plot is so flimsy it could be written on a Rizla – it centres on Craig (Cube) and Smokey (Tucker) too stoner pals who spend much of the eponymous day sat on a porch smoking weed and observing their neighbours, occasionally interacting with them. The humour is at times infantile, there’s very little in the way of characterization besides the stereotypical bullies and comely girls who orbit Craig and Smokey but Friday is a very fun way to spend 90 minutes of your time. It has a great hip hop soundtrack (featuring tracks by Ice Cube and Dr Dre) and some flash visuals by debut director F. Gary Gray (The Negotiator, Set it Off), fresh from his work making music videos. Friday is a great time capsule for those seeking some early-mid 1990s nostalgia.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 08:29:44 +0000
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