|
|
- The Advocate eEdition
- |
- Wedding Forms
- |
- Newsletters
- |
- Text Alerts
- |
- Mobile
- |
- RSS
- |
'Next Day Air' misses delivery
Movie Review: Next Day Air
By Michael Farrar
Special to 2theadvocate.com
|
PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
out of 4 stars.
Movie audiences adore screw ups, and “Next Day Air” provides a truckload of characters who can't seem to get it together. From bumbling bank robbers to stoned delivery men, this film puts lovable fools on parade.
This is a movie formula that continues to work from the classic “Ghostbusters” right up to the recent hit film “Paul Blart:Mall Cop.” The characters may be clueless, but they obey their own logic of how they try to get things done.
Making a comedy can be like cooking. One might have the same ingredients as a world-famous chef, but somewhere in the mix the taste can go out of the recipe. “Next Day Air” has funny actors, but somehow it doesn't always deliver.
This movie feels like an odd blend of “Friday” and “Pulp Fiction,” but without the clever fun of those inventive films. Instead, we get a strange story of crazed characters who constantly argue over what to do next and occasionally exchange gunfire.
We start off following Leo (Donald Faison), who is a stoner delivery man trying to make it through his dull work days. After Leo makes a package delivery to some truly disorganized criminals, the audience dives into the world of Brody (Mike Epps), Guch (Wood Harris) and Hassie (Malik Barnhardt).
The film keeps expanding to include a hot-tempered couple (Cisco Reyes and Yasmin Deliz) hunting for the missing drug shipment, a Mexican drug smuggler (Emilio Rivera) and a smooth local street drug supplier (Omari Hardwick).
But after a while, it can be difficult to know who we are supposed to follow or ever care about. For that reason, the film doesn't really feel grounded. The film has it's charms, including performances by Mike Epps and Donald Faison, but overall it is a bit too confusing.
Would a Mexican drug kingpin really send an absolute fortune of cocaine through some commercial door-to-door delivery service? I also can't believe that a big-time drug dealer keeps his cash stash along with drug equipment in a simple padlocked public storage warehouse unit.
Not much about “Next Day Air” makes sense, like that fact that everyone who has the drug shipment or a stolen box of cash stays where their enemies can easily find them.
If you suddenly found a box stuffed with cash or a gym bag of drugs worth a fortune, wouldn't you know enough to go someplace else?
”Next Day Air” is director Benny Boom’s first feature film, however, he has been shooting music videos for 50 Cent, Mobb Deep and Nas. With that said, Boom does a professional job of getting the shots, while getting as much value as a new director can from a thin script.
While I enjoyed most of the performances, there are just too many things that didn't seem to make sense. By the time the ending credits rolled, the only thing memorable about “Next Day Air,” was how much better it would have been if the script had tapped the plot's potential.
