All About the Benjamins

All About the Benjamins (2002) is a movie that I recently watched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a bounty hunter whose recent, and most frequent, target hits the lottery, stumbles onto a jewelry heist and runs into the bounty hunter on the same day. When the bounty hunter hears his bounty's story, he sees an opportunity to further his career if he plays his cards right.

This movie is directed by Kevin Bray (Walking Tall) and stars Ice Cube (Friday), Mike Epps (Next Friday), Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy), Eva Mendes (Hitch), Roger Guenveur Smith (Do the Right Thing) and Carmen Chaplin (Sabrina).

The storyline for this felt like the same old buddy cop movie plot without the characters being cops. The dialogue and circumstances were fun, and entertaining but not elite (this isn't Rush Hour or 48 hrs). Epps and Ice Cube play off each other naturally and flow well together. The villains are well established and this has a great soundtrack. The comedic content and action scenes are entertaining but also not outstanding.

Overall, this is an above average addition to the comedy genre that I would score a 6/10 and recommend seeing once.

I saw this this movie in theaters back when it came out and it was entertaining then. I bought in on DVD and I have been entertained since. But last night I watched from a more critical stance than usual and found some flaws in this movie that I thought was very good.

First of all, I love Ice Cube and what he's done with his career and how he branched off from music to movies. He's one of the few rappers that can hold their own on either side of the camera. He also seems to know his limitations. He enlists others to handle the over-the-top comedy for those qualified. Mike Epps was a very good choice. At times his jokes can fall flat, but the hilarity of his funny moments make up for the missteps.

I watched 'All About the Benjamins' last night and I was in stitches laughing at the shower torture scene. I rewinded that bad boy at least five times and watched it again once more before I went to sleep for one more chuckle. Oddly enough, it wasn't Ice Cube, Mike Epps, or even the torture that I found funny. It was the torturee (Julian Ramose played by Roger Guenveur Smith). When he mouthed off at Mike Epps' character (Reggie) I was rolling all over the place uncontrollably.

This movie's script could have been better, but I've seen much worse. I was never bored and I will watch this movie many more times in the future. Ice Cube should employ better writers in the future. This could be a gem with smarter dialogue. We watch movies too, you know.

I gave this movie a 7 out of 10. That one scene getting rewound so much was a HUGE factor. See this if you get a chance.

All About the Benjamins (2002)

5 word summary

Enemies team up against criminal

A cool film. Ice Cube plays a similar character that he does in most of his films, the hard ass smart ass, but it works well with his role. Mike Epps also plays about the same as usual, but it also works really well. They both have pretty good comedic performances which along side the action directing makes a decent/ tolerable action comedy.

Its not a fantastic film by any means, and though I said they had good comedic performances, the acting wasn't that great. Personally I think Eva Mendes and Tommy Flannigan acted better, but they still weren't at their best. The directing and writing is also nothing special, it works here, but that's about all you can say about it

All about the Benjamins is a pretty average and predictable action comedy but it was fun and funny. If you are a fan of Next Friday and Friday After Next, you will probably enjoy this "fourth installment." It's very similar in style and definitely similar performances by Cube and Epps.

7/10

After sitting through "All About the Benjamins" it's a real enjoyable action/comedy. This is the story of a bounty hunter (Ice Cube, who also co-wrote with first-time screenwriter Ron Lang and co-produced) who's on the pursuit of a bail jumper ("Next Friday" co-star Mike Epps) and their footchase ends up at drop-off for a major diamond where the killers left a few dead bodies in the process. I'll admit Cube is really showing his talents as an actor, screenwriter, and producer. And, Epps, is real hilarious in this movie. Cubevision projects have been getting better. And, Ice Cube shows a lot more comedic talents than he did in the last two "Fridays". I also like the bad guys, especially the ring leader of the heist. I feel that this is one of the most plot-driven movies Ice Cube has done since "Players Club". And, if you look hard at "All About the Benjamins" it's not just an Ice Cube movie. It's an actor/screenwriter hard at work. But, only one thing this sounds more like a movie that would be released in the summer, not early spring.

I was pretty surprised by this flick. It's an action film with a few shots of comedy that actually delivers where it counts. Ice Cube plays it pretty straight here (like all of his other movies, but that's why we love him), and Mike Epps seems to be channeling Chris Tucker. They play off of one another very nicely, though. The mostly formulaic storyline manages to throw them into some very interesting situations.

Of particular note are the "first black President" joke and the torture sequence. And of course, the Cube has his usual cheerful facial expressions glowing throughout the film. Truly, don't miss it.