Review of Next Day Air (2009) by Adrien A — 16 Sep 2009

Next Day Air is the Tarantino-like movie of drug films. Next Day Air is humorous at time, multiple storylines in a single film that tie up together at the end, and has an underlying theme. Even though the film is low budget and its themes and morals are pretty blunt and the least bit discrete, still makes for a great film. Donald Faison is A lead role in the film. There are three storylines which each seem to get a balance amount of attention. Well, I?d say Faison?s story gets a bit less than the rest.

The story is all around pretty solid, though the movie seems confused about what it wants to be. It is at times humorous but then turns serious so fast you could get whiplash. The three storylines are not complicated but do have value. The whole film is based around Leo (Donald Faison) bringing a package to apartment 302 instead of 303. The film is complex is the sense that a lot is happening and a lot is being explained in a short time but slow enough to follow, if that makes sense. The dialogue could use a bit of work but it works. My problem is that the film was marketed as a fully fledged comedy but the laughs are few. It?s really a serious film with a lot of comedy relief.

Next Day Air is, as I said earlier, is low budget. You got about 3 to 5 locations of filming with only about 2 or 3 three main areas that we see multiple times. We do follow around the delivery trucks but that?s not a location. The film looks good, standard film quality. However, each storyline has a different look to it. While Faison?s side is sloppy and just the lower side of life you have the second story line which is a cross between ratty and rich with a lot of black and then the third which is Latino and a lot of Spanish influences. You could go as far as to call each side a different stereotype but I?d have to object. Next Day Air had a similar feeling to The Fast and the Furious, it just felt real.

The acting was actually all around good, well; there wasn?t really a huge cast. I keep mentioning Faison but you have Mike Epps and Wood Harris doing a good job for the most part (Harris didn?t seem good but rather a little above average), Omari Hardwick is just amazing with his partner McCrary doing alright. I could go down the list some more but in all reality, all the actors did well or average but Hardwick and Faison really stand out as amazing or at least really well. Sadly for Hardwick, Faison steals the show because he was the most well known besides Mos Def (The amazing actor who played as Ford Prefect). Def in this movie just seemed kind of good, really out there, and I?m not sure to blame that on him or the director.

In closing comments, the film was enjoyable and the how the story played out kind of reminded me of Tarantino?s work without all the old film references and his very distinct filming style. Next Day Air is a simple film trying to be complex, it?s not sophisticated or philosophical, but has a good moral that?s basically spelled out but I?m sure they did that so everyone could get it. 6/10. It really is an entertaining film that?s wild and enjoyable with a few good performances. I may be alone amongst critics by saying this but I really enjoyed this film and if you walk in with the right mind set, so can you.