Who's the Man?

"Who's the Man?" is a very easy watch. It's a funny movie. It has a good story and it's filled with a lot of funny characters. It has a great running time (85 min) and a lot of good music. Ed Lover and Dr Dre are really funny together. If they were allowed to make a few more movies, they may have joined the ranks of the great comedy teams. Unfortunately, we'll never know. Everyone else in the cast is good/very good. Jim Moody and Denis Leary are two of the stand-outs. I should watch "Who's the Man?" more often. Honorable mention: the final shot.

Cards on the table: I'm an old white guy. I don't know Dre or Lover.

I like some slapstick, and some I don't. For your reference, I never much cared for Abbott & Costello or the 3 Stooges, but I love Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Dre & Lover got lots of personality and good humor. Love watching their comedy routine -- the best part of the movie.

Ice-T has a small part, must be one of his first on the screen. Would like to see him in bigger parts; he's on TV a lot lately and he's an interesting actor.

The closing credits are playing to some hip-hop. The lyrics use the "N" word, but it occurs to me that I don't remember hearing it in the movie's dialog. It's the end of 2006 and it's finally going out of style, but avoiding it 13 years ago was a touch of class.

I've got Cinemax playing on the TV. The next movie is coming on, which they rate "MV" for Mild Violence. If I were to rate "Who's the Man," I wouldn't give it any violence rating. A gun was waived around menacingly, once. Otherwise, they're too busy having fun. Bring the kids. (Apparently, the professional movie-raters disagree. Maybe society has changed a lot in 13 years. Either that, or professional movie-raters are fuddy duddies.)

This movie was basically a poor excuse to put a lot of rap stars on screen. It was the biggest compilation of hip hop artists in a movie since Krush Groove or House Party. I guess they figured if they had enough big, well known names they wouldn't need to have a good story nor would they have to worry about anyone's acting ability.

There were legitimate actors thrown in there as well: Dennis Leary was one but he was horrible as the exaggerated police sergeant. Bernie Mac and Bill Belamy were also in it but they were there strictly for one-liners and coordinated zingers that I'm sure they hoped would catch on to become pop buzz-phrases like, "You got knocked out!" and other such phrases.

It was cool to see all of the various artists I know and loved when I was a teenager. A few of the iconic artists are now dead (Heavy D, Guru, Jam Master Jay, one of the Chrises from Kriss Kross, Bernie Mac, and maybe others). But gone are the days when I could be simply awed by my favorite artists and consider their movie good. I need substance, content, or at least quality laughs. This had none of that.

What a fantastic movie! Wow! I loved, loved, loved this movie!

If there was ever a movie that was built for the dollar theater back in the day, this was it!

What an incredible concept and amazing, pretty much flawless execution on film.

The late director Ted Demme. His touch on this is masterful.

It's dang near an action film. Very similar, a close relative to New Jack City, which is from this same glorious era in movies and I also adore much the same.

I remember seeing the videocassette box of this in the video store and just thinking it was some silly urban comedy, because that is how they literally packaged it, but it is so much more than that.

Yes, it is funny, but make no mistake, this sucker is gritty too.

I love it.

Funny and gritty.

Old school New York.

Rappers playing normal roles of normal people. Unannounced cameos.

It's so great.

Most of today's youth wouldn't even realize these dudes are rappers.

And Denis Leary and Colin Quinn.

Bernie Mac too?

This movie rules!

And all from the director of Beautiful Girls?

Who knew?

Not me!

But I definitely know now.

Who the Man is!

I recently rewatched Who's the Man (1993) on Tubi. The storyline follows two best friends in New York who are struggling financially and lack direction in life. When the local police department becomes desperate for recruits, they decide to try out-assuming they have no chance of getting selected... until they do.

Directed by Ted Demme (Blow), the film stars Ed Lover (Undisputed), Doctor Dré (Juice), Ice-T (New Jack City), Bernie Mac (Bad Santa), Denis Leary (Suicide Kings), and Bill Bellamy (Fled).

As a teenager, I loved this movie as a companion piece to Yo! MTV Raps. It boasts an impressive lineup of rapper cameos and a fun soundtrack (which I definitely had as a kid). While the story and acting are rough, Bernie Mac and Denis Leary deliver hilarious performances that make it worthwhile. The premise has a Police Academy-style vibe with a street-smart spin, though it leans into the ridiculous.

In conclusion, Who's the Man is a nostalgic rap movie with a few redeeming elements, but it's still pretty bad. I'd score it a 4/10.