Cast: Donald Faison, Mos Def, Mike Epps, Wood Harris, Cisco Reyes, Yasmin Deliz
Running Time: 84 minutes
Classification: 16 LVD
Rating: **
If you witnessed Mos Def on his visit to South Africa, his performance alone will see you race to watch this film. Except that music and film are entirely separate, as director Benny Boom should have noted.
Most famous for music videos for the likes of Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and R.Kelly, Boom makes his film debut with Next Day Air, which is a confused stretch between a stoner comedy and an action thriller.
While Pineapple Express showed that this crossover is possible commercially, it is done rather poorly here.
When a package containing bricks of cocaine is accidentally delivered to the wrong address, matters spiral out of control.
Set in Philadelphia, there is plenty of action in this film, with gangsters gunning each other down over the lost cocaine and racial stereotypes pushed to the maximum.
Leo Jackson (Faison) of Scrubs fame stars as the delivery boy who likes to get high, and is on the verge of being fired by his boss, who also happens to be his mother.
He delivers the package to the wrong flat, so it falls into the hands of Brody (Epps) and Guch (Harris).
Add in the Puerto Ricans and Mexicans and we have an effective war of the races.
Mos Def stars as Leo's partner but, sadly, we don't get to see enough of him.
The plot, penned by first-timer Blair Cobbs, is fraught with inconsistencies. Cue the flashbacks and extreme scenes of violence like cigar-burn torture, and it comes off as a try-hard attempt at a Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino film, with a serious lack of inspired humour.
If you liked … Snatch, Pineapple Express and Half Baked … you might like this.
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