Here is a movie that shows just how different the finished product can be from expectations driven by advertising. The trailer for Next Day Air promises a madcap crime/comedy of mistaken identity. The film delivers a comedy filled with drugs, violence, and stereotypes that delivers the goods, but is most decidedly not what is advertised. I went in looking for a film similar to Friday — that is exactly what I got. Well, that is exactly what I got if Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie teamed up to make it.
The movie is not as funny as I was expecting and considerably more bloody and violent than I was expecting. However, it is still a rather entertaining film that never takes itself too seriously and knows to keep its tale brief before becoming riddled with more cliches or any boredom can threaten to set in.
The story is a simple one. Leo (Donald Faison, Scrubs) works for a FedEx type company called Next Day Air. The man is not terribly good at his job and considering he spends much of the day smoking marijuana it is not surprising that he has a number of complaints lodged with management regarding his service. After begging for his job, Leo heads out for his run and promptly delivers a package to the wrong apartment. This is where everything begins to go wrong.
Inside the apartment are a couple of hapless, would-be criminals, Brody (Mike Epps) and Guch (Wood Harris), plus a rather sleepy individual who is not a friend of either man, but remains all the same. They crack the large box open only to discover ten bricks of high quality cocaine. The men's prayers have seemingly been answered as they know just who to sell the fine powder to.
Down the hall is a Puerto Rican couple, Jesus (Cisco Reyes) and his girlfrind (Yasmin Deliz). This is where the coke was supposed to go and when it doesn't arrive, the excitable and paranoid Jesus is left to explain to his boss, the Mexican drug lord Bodega (Emilio Rivera), and he is none too happy.
A few more players get involved as Jesus madly searches for Leo, believing he stole the package, and the Brody/Guch tag team try to sell the drugs and make some bank. Everything culminates in a hail of bullets, a few splashes of blood, and a few laughs as everything comes together.
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Article comments
1 - Jordan
I think many people went in with preconceived notions. It was entertaining and it was just a movie.
2 - El Bicho
if Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie teamed up, how would anyone know by watching the film?