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Summary: "Next Friday" DVD Review!
Review: Ice Cube returns for the second installment in the "Friday" franchise. This time, he's moving out of the hood and into his rich uncle's home in Rancho Cucamonga. Chris Tucker's out of the picture and in his place is Mike Epps as Cube's wacky cousin. Also returning for this one are John Witherspoon and Tiny "Zeus" Lister but a majority of the characters are brand new to the series with Don "D.C." Curry, Tamala Jones, Clifton Powell, Justin Pierce, and Sticky Fingaz joining the ensemble cast. "Next Friday" has Craig moving out to the 'burbs when he learns that the neighborhood bully, Deebo (Lister) has escaped from prison and is looking for him. The suburbs prove to be just as much trouble as he has to deal with the Latino thugs who live next door, a trigger-happy record store owner, and his cousin's obsessive ex-girlfriend. When it turns out that his uncle has just 24 hours to come up with some money to cover some unpaid taxes on the house, Cube devises a plan that has him, his cousin, Day-Day (Epps), and their token white friend (the late Justin Pierce) breaking into the next door neighbor's house. "Next Friday" is a decent follow-up but the loss of co-writer DJ Pooh and star Chris Tucker is a lot to get over. Epps puts in a humorous comedic performance but he's no Tucker. The new characters are hit and miss. Amy Hill's Asian neighbor is a weak and tired sterotype-driven character. If you can't tell that Hill isn't Korean by looking at her, her awful attempt at an accent will give it away. Jacob Vargas as the loud-mouthed Latio neighbor is entertaining though they seemed to have run out of material for him in some areas. Sticky Fingaz is hilarious as Tyrone, Deebo's prison sidekick and Lisa Rodriguez is easy on the eyes as Cube's love interest. While it's not on the same level as the original, "Next Friday" has more than a few laughs. Cube and Epps have pretty good chemistry and the suburban backdrop makes for a nice change of pace for an urban comedy (it's certainly done more effectively than on Fox's "Red And Meth"). The DVD presentation has a lot of cool extra features including an alternate ending, the Mike Epps audition tape, and an audio commentary by director Steve Carr.
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