Amigos por Acaso

I'm afraid it took two times of me watching this to actually appreciate the film. It was quite good for a buddy movie. The comedy was there and so was the action. Mike Epps is a very funny guy. Ice Cube is always good at his characters. The plot was so so. It is kind of like some that have been done before but as for entertainment value it was fun. I would watch this again in hopes that I would laugh even harder the next time.

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.

To be fair, Ice Cube has done the best he could with All About the Benjamins. I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked in and got pretty much that. Not as funny as you'd think, especially from the constant annoyance from Epps, but the movie provides basic entertainment and accomplishes it's goal- obscene, action comedy for a weekend afternoon. Funniest scene goes to Epps first scene in the convinience store. B

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.

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