Who's In It: Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Wood Harris, Omari Hardwick, Cisco Reyes, Yasmin Deliz, Mos Def, Debbie Allen
The Basics: In which a stoned Donald Faison delivers a huge box of cocaine bricks to the wrong criminals and a lot of shooting and killing ensues. But it's a comedy. That is, until it's not. That's when Donald Faison goes away for a bit. Then it's crime drama. Then Mos Def (best thing in the movie when he's on screen, which isn't often) shows up and it's a comedy again. Oh, wait, Mos Def is gone again so we're back to drama. But then here comes some another scene with Mos Def. And a little more Donald Faison. But then comes all the crazy violence. I have no idea what I just watched.
What's The Deal: This movie is so dumb it doesn't even know that it was supposed to star Donald Faison and Mos Def instead of a bunch of character actors playing underwritten, interchangable drug dealers. Ultimately you're being pranked here, because if you watch the trailer or look at any ad you'd be led to believe that perhaps those two were the stars. Instead they both disappear for long stretches while tedious, rote, crime lip-syncing takes place. The funny men show back up and you think, "Oh yeah, you're in this movie too." It's bad enough that by the end of the film you'll be ready to sign a petition for the rapper-turned-actor to change his name to Less Def.
How It's Like Being On A Jarring Carnival Ride: I know that life has funny moments and moments of true crime and super-danger. But usually there are transitioning segues as things lighten up or get totally serious. And when constructing a dramedy, that sort of transition-making skill is even more essential. Like it's good if you can you ease the story logically from a scene of angry drug dealers shouting F-words and MF-words to a scene of comedic violence to a scene of non-comedic violence in which someone gets their tongue sliced off by one of the characters you're meant to root for. And if you can't do that then you wind up with what this is.
Making Good Use Of A Cameo: Fame star Debbie Allen has one scene as Faison's mom and she manages to wring several syllables out of the word "weed." And then she disappears too.
Making Bad Use Of A Glinda The Good Witch Voiceover Moment: After a bloodbathy "say hello to my little friend" finale takes place, one of the dealers is reminded of a moment where he was told about how you should have something worth dying for, the voiceover gently re-penetrating his mind. THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE. Not once has the movie pretended to be about this one particular guy. Not once has anyone else in the movie been revisited by guiding moral voices that float on the wind back into their ears to remind them of their code of ethics. And then, less than three minutes later, the film ends abruptly, as though they suddenly ran out of budget and said, "Okay, that's a wrap. We'll fix it in post."