All About the Benjamins

• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Action
• Movie Type: Buddy Film, Crime Comedy
• Themes: Bounty Hunters, Jewel Theft
• Director: Kevin Bray
• Main Cast: Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Eva Mendes, Tommy Flanagan, Carmen Chaplin, Anthony Michael Hall
• Release Year: 2002
• Country: US
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Rap star and actor Ice Cube produces, co-writes, and stars in this comic crime thriller that reunites him with his Next Friday (1999) co-star Mike Epps in the 48 Hrs. (1982) mold. Cube plays Bucum Jackson, a Miami bounty hunter for Martinez Bail Bonds who's tired of his dangerous, unprofitable profession and wants to start his own private investigation firm. Lacking stake money, Bucum is forced to hunt down a small-time grafter named Reggie Wright (Epps), a fast-talking confidence man who's crossed his path before. Except that this time, Wright tries to avoid his pursuer by hiding in a van being driven by a pair of murderous diamond thieves who've just made off with 20 million dollars worth of stones. They're in the employ of lethal crime lord and yacht broker Williamson (Tommy Flanagan), someone that neither Reggie nor Bucum is anxious to cross, but it seems that Reggie left his wallet in the van, a wallet containing a winning lottery ticket worth 60 million dollars. The hunt is on for big money as the mismatched duo tries to outfox a wily syndicate for both the ticket and the precious gems. The directorial debut of music video director Kevin Bray, All About the Benjamins (2002) co-stars Eva Mendes, Carmen Chaplin, Valarie Rae Miller, Jeff Chase, Roger Guenveur Smith, Anthony Michael Hall, and Lil' Bow Wow. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Review

With its engaging central duo caught in an underworld of bounty hunters and diamond thieves, All About the Benjamins at best resembles a good modern blaxploitation flick -- the kind that brings guilty pleasure, not discomfort. At its worst, though, it's a ludicrous, outsized caper story revolving around two different booties of 20-plus million dollars. Forget about Benjamin Franklin, who's on the thousand? Also forget about the Puff Daddy song of the same name, and the fact that the title sounds so 1998; Benjamins looks like a 2002 movie, especially during some crackling action sequences that have the kinetic energy and bouncy camera of Ridley Scott's later work. That's a pretty high compliment to pay video director Kevin Bray, but he only reaches that level in flashes. The rest of the time he's forgetting that it should all make narrative sense, that two thugs can't be tossed off the side of the boat and then disappear from the story, that a guy with a missile launcher can't pop up and vanish without explanation. Still, the inclination is to forgive Benjamins some of these faults, because Ice Cube and Mike Epps deliver the goods more often than not, achieving mindless popcorn entertainment with crossover potential. Cube is a known commodity by this point, but Epps gets his best showcase to prove he can sling high-speed, streetwise bull that's different enough from his contemporaries to be distinctive. Even when the plot points are patently fake, these two manage to keep it real. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide