'All About the Benjamins' is all about making money
By Marshall Fine
The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News
| ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS (Rated R for profanity, nudity, graphic violence) One Star (Poor)
A bounty hunter and a con man team up to find missing diamonds in this lame, derivative comedy action thriller that's neither funny nor thrilling. Starring Ice Cube, Mike Epps. Directed by Kevin Bray. New Line Cinema, 90 mins. |
Both "Midnight Run" and "48 HRS." come immediately to mind while viewing this derivative action-thriller by music-video director Kevin Bray."All About the Benjamins" draws its title from a Puff Daddy rap tune celebrating an ethic that makes a god of Ben Franklin (whose picture is on the $100 bill).
The film focuses on a predictably odd pairing: bounty hunter Bucum Jackson (Ice Cube) and his quarry, con man Reggie Wright (Mike Epps). Bucum (pronounced book 'em) wants to catch Reggie and use the bounty to start his own private investigation firm. But his pursuit takes an unexpected turn when Reggie hides in the back of a van to elude him.
By coincidence (something this film stretches to the limit), the van is the getaway conveyance for a pair of jewel thieves, who loudly explain the whole plot (oops, the diamonds we just killed several people to steal are fake — how will we get the real ones?) to the crouching Reggie. Reggie escapes, but not before accidentally leaving his wallet behind. For good measure, the wallet contains a winning Lotto ticket.
When Bucum catches up with Reggie, the two become reluctant partners in pursuit of the real diamonds and, secondarily, the Lotto ticket. Mostly, however, they engage in activities innocuous enough to allow Epps, a stand-up comic, to riff and flail while Ice Cube fixes him with a baleful glare.
Both sides of this equation are meant to be funny in and off themselves but neither Ice Cube's smoldering slow burn nor Epps' floundering qualifies are even mildly amusing. A motormouth with a whiny delivery, Epps isn't capable of transforming weak writing into humor. Based on this performance, it's hard to imagine him being funny, even with good material.
Bray suffers from music-video syndrome: i.e., the tendency to use camera tricks to impart meaning to meaningless images. That's particularly noticeable in the film's foot chases: There's absolutely no tension in Bucum's pursuit of Reggie, but you're guaranteed a low-angle, slow-mo shot every time one of them hurdles a fence.
"All About the Benjamins" counts as truth in advertising. This is crassly commercial exploitation meant to elicit maximum monetary return for the least physical effort. Bling-bling, Ben Franklin.
Rated R for profanity, nudity, graphic violence.
