All About the Benjamins kevinjwalker@blackwebportal.com CAST: Reggie Wright -- Mike Epps Bucum Jackson -- Ice Cube/O'Shea Jackson Gina -- Eva Mendes Robert Williamson -- Tommy Flanagan Ursula -- Carmen Chaplin Pam -- Valerie Rae Miller Ramrose -- Roger Guenveur Smith Director: Kevin Bray Co-Screenwriters: Ice Cube, Ronald Lang Studio: New Line Cinema

"All About The Benjamins" is the latest pairing of "Next Friday" duo Ice Cube and Mike Epps, who travel the Reluctant Buddy Flick Road with an urban flavoured heist film Like many critics I was expecting a ghetto shoot 'em up romp, with a lightweight almost not-there plotline similar to the "Friday" film franchise. The third installment, "Friday After Next" will be out for the Thanksgiving holiday.

"All About The Benjamins" is actually pretty good with some nice production values, and the fast-paced action and some memorable characters fleshes out the lightweight plotline about the pairing of two Miami area brothas who find themselves mixed up in a murderous diamond heist.

There are similarities to "Low Down Dirty Shame," which should have been a franchise for Keenan Ivory Wayans but he punked out on it. "Benjamins" could easily be converted because Miami isn't mined out like Los Angeles, the environment is nice, and the multiethnic mix down there allows for lots of stories.

Robert Williamson the villain as played by Tommy Flanagan is a hard edged character that is unlike the cardboard cut-outs in so many films. Its left unsaid about his past, but with that scar it must be interesting. He's cruel, but not mindlessly so. Roger Guenveur Smith from several Spike Lee movies is his henchman; his deadly sister Ursula is played by Carmen Chaplin, Charlie's granddaughter.

This makes two for Ice Cube's Vision production company, who wrote the story's premise and the screenplay with Ronald Lang,. Cube directed the hit feature film "Player's Club" four years ago, as well as starring in his first science fiction film last year.

The John Carpenter actioner "Ghosts of Mars" was a thinly repackaged version of the bloody Westerns and Jungle Savage siege flicks, and in a way Carpenter’s own vampire-like sequence of films such as "The Fog" and others where hordes of transformed or undead walk the earth and lay siege to the living.

Cube said in our interview during the "All About The Benjamins" studio junket that he didn't much care for "Ghosts of Mars." The film was a Sci Fi version of Siege flicks such as "Zulu" and Westerns with attacking Black savages and Redskins, and co-starred "Species" star Natasha Henstridge and "The Faculty's" Clea Duvall.

Ice Cube said he watched and learned from director Walter Hill, who directed him in "Trespass," itself a modernizing and remaking of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with Ice T and Bill Paxton.

"All About The Benjamins" (the title refers to the slang term for $100 bills featuring Benjamin Franklin) has some well-done action scenes that were performed and orchestrated by people who knew what they were doing. The chase scenes range from scooters to cars careening down Miami boulevards to speedboat races. The pyrotechnics also have skill showing, making the film flow along with almost no dead spots.

Epps wisecracking character of Reggie, a bail-jumping homie pursued by Cube's bounty hunter, keeps things hopping along as he chases what Alfred Hitchcock called a "McGuffin." The Maltese Falcon was one; in this case Reggie's wallet was retrieved by the Bad Guys, and it contains a winning $60 million lottery ticket. Cube's Buckum couldn't care less if he tried, and doesn't believe him Cracking the case of the $20 million in diamonds would get him the rewards and the notoriety he needs to start his own detective agency.

There are some Video Hoes to be seen and rump shaking for the male crowd that Ice Cube catered to in his pretty good directorial feature film debut "Players Club." "What's shakin'?" Buckum asks Pam, the comely office assistant.

"Ain't nothin' shakin' but this ass" she says as she inspects a painted nail. Give the audience what it wants. For the men, that is. Fast cars, some opulence, flash and "Bling Bling" for that crowd. Some of us expected a simple Ghetto Adventure, but were surprised when "All About The Benjamins" was revealed as a well-made and engaging urban action comedy and Reluctant Buddy flick. It doesn't break any new ground, but that's okay, the audience will be sated.

Lisa and I, her sister and friend took in the show the week of the national rollout. I didn't mind seeing the film again, although I had to skip the screening the same night of the remake of "The Time Machine." It was interesting seeing the film with a regular audience, who respond to different things than critics. Lisa liked "Benjamins," and she guffawed several times during the film. The audience was into it as well, and the film may do some good business after its nationwide roll out.

Keep in mind that what we saw at the junket was an advance copy of the film which still had glitches, such as the film stock not being matched, no credits, and so forth; and missing the tacked-on ending that brings many of the principles pleasantly together. Even making allowances for this unfinished version, "Benjamins" still passed the audience enjoyment test, which is the main one for a film. And we were a hard audience to please.

"THE BENJAMINS" CHICAGO NLC JUNKET It was a most soothing and invigorating foray down into the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. The movie studio New Line Cinema flew in critics from all around the country to see the new movie "All About the Benjamins" with Ice Cube & Mike Epps.

They put us up in the Four Seasons Ritz-Carleton hotel. A tip: stay away from the minibar when you’re staying in a four star $285.00 a day hotel. Even with $125 in prepaid "incidental expenditures" as the studio called it, the minibar and its temptations will eat that up fast! I was acquainted with the Ritz-Carelton, it was the same place where I interviewed Wesley Snipes for "Sugar Hill."

The next day, Monday, we held interviews with the two stars. They let the television and radio people go first around 10 am. That was cool, because then we print people could sleep in later. It’s known within the industry that print people are the original Party Animals where the media is concerned. It’s mostly because we had a couple hundred years’ head start

Some people needed the extra sleep time, because the out of towners, from places like Maryland, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York and Florida headed straight for the South Side club where R. Kelly be at, while others went nearby to Isaac Hayes' night club just a few blocks from our hotel at Watertower Place, and not far from Planet Hollywood and the Excalibur nightclubs.

The interview I had with Mr. Cube and Mr. Epps was taped, and will be on a radio station in the area. The interviews will be on the Black Web Portal Wire movie Review section. There were some interesting things we learned in the freewheeling interview session that included writers from Florida, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and more. Cube was in Chicago filming the MGM movie "Barber Shop."

Mike Epps (the suburban cousin Day Day in "Next Friday") shows some glimmers of dramatic skills, a statement that he pooh-poohed when we spoke the next day. The scenes where he got fed up with the put downs he endured from Cube's character is where they were most seen. His timing and physical-ness put me in the mind of the talents seen when "Bad Boys" exposited the promise of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, two other brothers who later blew up. One has more critical acclaim, but both are making the big buckeroos. The interview with the group of print reporters was a lively affair, with Epps and Cube alternating and finishing each other's comments, as buds will do who know each other's thoughts.

EPPS: "I have a li'l' attention problem. I was something like a Prozac kid" he said of his cutups as a youngster when he used humour in the classroom. About Epps being typecast as a film funny man, Cube answered "As much as comedians make [in movies] these days? At $20 mil a picture?!" Hell..."

Epps, a standup comedian and a native of Gary, Indiana was near his homebase. He said that he was content just to do comedy for now. I reminded him that I was right about Wesley Snipes blowing up first in comedy from "Major League," then onto artsy films, then action. Snipe's "Blade 2" also by NLC will be out in a few weeks, and I might re interview Snipes again, especially if they have a junket in Chicago.

This time again as in the "Friday" franchise flicks Epps is the comedic partner to Ice Cube's straight man. What Hollywood does, is they'll gradually see if you can un-partner yourself as they did with Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence and so forth, then set you loose on your own flick. I predict again that Epps will blow up!

He has the moves, is smart and good on his feet. With the right management he'll land some roles that show his talents go far beyond comedy.

Ice Cube for his part was the businessman at our meeting at the Ritz Carelton. I knew the NWA Gangsta Rapper persona was just a put on for the middle class raised O'Shea Jackson. Cube is a businessman with multi-million dollar development deals with several film and recording studios. He speaks well, shakes your hand with a mixture of a two-handed corporate grip and a 'how ya doin' brotha" clasp between old buds. He's easy to smile, and spoke with knowledge of what it takes to get a deal past studios when mucho dinero is on the line.

ICE CUBE: "You're dealing with millions of dollars just for an idea that's in your head," he said of approaching the studio execs with film treatments.

"A music video is like a 100 yard dash, a movie is more like a marathon," said O'Shea Jackson, Ice Cube's real name.

"Does it matter being you two being friends? Does it show up on the screen?" he was asked.

"Definitely it helps. In the first 'Friday" film, me and Chris, we weren't friends," said Cube, saying he and Epps hang out together. What about Chris Tucker coming back for another Friday film?

CUBE: "He don't want to do it. I said, 'let Chris go and do his own thing."

(Continued next week.)

Write, email or call kevinjwalker@blackwebportal.com ,call (414) 454-9673, or write P.O. Box 1324-53201, and be sure and visit the film websites at http://cinemaviews.tripod.com http://www.blackwebportal.com/wire "ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS" directed by Kevin Bray is rated "R" for brief sexuality, language, violence, and gunplay Read Part I of the interview with Ice Cube and Mike Epps next week in the Black web portal Wire movie review section -- kjw

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