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Review by Harvey Karten
No Rating Supplied
Beneath Miami's glitter the high-rise hotels, the babes in
bikinis, the Lexus dealerships and yacht showrooms lies an
underclass of people who exist in trailer parks watching Bugs
Bunny cartoons in cabins decorated with Confederate flags and
commission-only people doing dangerous jobs that get them
into trouble with lowlife criminals and hassles with the police. All
this is illustrated in Kevin Bray's "All About the Benjamins," co-
written by and starring producer Ice Cube. But "All About the
Benjamins" merely dabbles in sociological commentary. Its true
import is a test of the chemistry between motormouth comic
Mike Epps and Ice Cube in the traditional setup of straight-man
and stooge: a convention that dates back at least to Laurel and
Hardy and Abbott and Costello. But since Ice Cube is hardly a
dimwtited straight man we can compare "Benjamims" most
closely with "Rush Hour," which pitted fasttalking Chris Tucker
with fast-moving but straight- acting Jackie Chan. Released just
one week before yet another buddy-movie parody, "Showtime,"
"All About the Benjamins" may offer nothing to new but is so
fast-moving in the usual action-movie traditions displaying
gorgeous girls, car chases, explosions and comic violence that
only a churl can fault it for not showing more about its messages
of race and class in America. Cube was better cast in Gary
Gray's "Friday," however, which, although lacking a strong plot
spread the word about underprivileged youth trying to survive in
L.A.'s South Central 'hood.
Ice Cube performs in the role of Bucum Jackson, a bounty
hunter who works for Martinez (Anthony Giaimo), getting ten
percent of the put-up bail for each minor felon he captures
(though the way the bounty system works could have used an
explanation for those in the audience who've never had a cop
look at them cross-eyed). Bearing the American dream of
opening a private investigation firm, because "that's where the
money is," he tangles with repeat offender Reggie (Michael
Epps) who offers him something better than the chump change
he's used to. Diamonds and lottery tickets form the glitter of this
ethnic buddy comedy as Bucum and Reggie tangle with criminal
intermediary Ramose (Roger Guenveur Smith) and big boss,
Glasgow-born Tommy Flanagan in the role of yacht salesman
Williamson.
As the obligatory girl friends of the young men, Eva Mendes
as Gina (who looks a lot like Gina Gershon) and to a lesser
extent Valarie Rae Miller as Pam bond well with the buddies
and even display some feminist gumption to save the day near
the film's conclusion. The sound track is a fiesta of rap, of
course, and for a little extra class there's a portion of Giacomo
Puccini's "In Quelle Trine Morbide" from Manon Lescaut.
Copyright © 2002 Harvey Karten
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out of 4
