Review of Friday (1995) by Kevin P — 15 Dec 2018

Strengths: The script does this movie a lot of favors. The dialogue comes across as natural and realistic, while the characters are surprisingly well developed. Ice Cube (Craig Jones) is a solid lead and plays a character who grows over the course of the film. Heâ(TM)s always found success as the straight man in movies like this. It helps that the funny man, Chris Tucker (Smokey) is at his best. Thereâ(TM)s a reason the role is so memorable. Heâ(TM)s fantastic. The smaller performances by the likes of Tiny Lister Jr. (Deebo), John Witherspoon (Willie Jones), Nia Long (Debbie Parker), Anthony Johnson (Ezel), and Bernie Mac (Pastor Clever) were all hilarious. This movie is just straight up funny, even more than two decades later. The fight scene at the end is way stronger than youâ(TM)d expect from a comedy.

Weaknesses: It does feel like the kind of movie that wonâ(TM)t work for everyone. The comedy is centered around being someone who understands the situations that come with living in a hood like that. While the underlying story is one that is relatable, the plot points around it may not click for general audiences.

Overall: A really funny classic cult comedy. Thereâ(TM)s a nice little lesson in there, some surprisingly solid action moments, and plenty of quotable moments.