Main Cast: K.D. Aubert, Terry Crews, Don "DC" Curry, Bebe Drake, Starletta DuPois
Release Year: 2002
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The gang from Friday and Next Friday are back in this urban comedy, in which Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) have finally moved out of their respective parents' homes and gotten an apartment together. However, a bogus neighborhood Santa Claus (Rickey Smiley) decides to help Craig and Day-Day share the wealth by robbing their apartment, and when he rips off their stereo, he also makes off with their rent money, which was hidden in the speaker cabinets. Desperate to make rent and have some money for Christmas presents, Craig and Day-Day land jobs at a local strip mall, where their fathers, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon) and Uncle Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry), have gone into business together running a barbecue joint. Craig and Day-Day are installed as security guards, and while Craig tries to make time with Donna (K.D. Aubert), a saleswoman at the Pimp N' Ho's Boutique, and keep things orderly at Holy Moly's Doughnut Shop, Day-Day attempts to transform himself into a master of crime-fighting, which causes a lot more problems than it solves. Friday After Next is the first feature film from director Marcus Raboy, who previously directed music videos for Sting, Li'l Kim, Staind, and Friday After Next star Ice Cube. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
For the third installment of Ice Cube's Friday series, the filmmakers do the impossible and manage to make the funniest of the bunch in Friday After Next. If it's laughs you want, then that's what you're gonna get here. Gone is the urban drama aspects that plagued the first two films, replaced instead with more wacky situations, riddled with some of the most outrageous comedic performances by an ensemble cast in some time. Most of the main Friday characters are back and in fine hilarious form here, with everyone constantly raising the comedy bar for each scene and setup. Surprisingly, it's Mike Epps that pulls in the most laughs as Cube's returning cousin Day-Day. Working off of a promising performance in Next Friday, Epps comes into his own here and easily shrugs off Chris Tucker's looming shadow in the franchise. Add in non-stop dialogue and a breezy 82-minute running time, and Friday After Next becomes the most consistently funny Friday movie out there. For fans of the series, it's great news indeed. Definitely worth it for anyone looking to turn off their brains and have a great time. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
Colin de Rouin - Art Director, Ronn Riser - Associate Producer, Matthew Barry - Casting, Nancy Green-Keyes - Casting, Dana Campbell - Costume Designer, Donald Sparks - First Assistant Director, Marcus Raboy - Director, Kevin Bray - Second Unit Director, Suzanne Hines - Editor, Douglas Curtis - Executive Producer, Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer, Matt Moore - Executive Producer, John Murphy - Composer (Music Score), Spring Aspers - Musical Direction/Supervision, Amy B. Ancona - Production Designer, Glen MacPherson - Cinematographer, Ice Cube - Producer, Matt Alvarez - Producer, Bill Taliaferro - Set Designer, Chad S. Frey - Set Designer, Melissa Levander - Set Designer, Walter Anderson - Sound/Sound Designer, Kenneth L. Johnson - Sound/Sound Designer, Ice Cube - Screenwriter, DJ Pooh - Screenwriter, Julian Chojnacki - Additional Cinematography, Terry Wilson - Music Editor, Dave Kelsey - Special Effects Coordinator, Mark Stoeckinger - Supervising Sound Editor
The movie begins when a robber (Rickey Smiley), disguised as Santa Claus, breaks into Craig (Cube) and Day-Day's (Epps) house at 3:37am on Christmas Eve. Craig fights with the robber, trashing their apartment while making frantic, futile attempts to wake Day-Day. The robber escapes with Craig and Day-Day's Christmas presents and rent money. The same morning, the police come over to get a report. After the police leave, Ms. Pearly (Bebe Drake) comes in and says that if the two don't pay their rent money by the next day, she'll evict them. Furthermore, she promises to send her homosexual ex-convict son, Damon (Terry Crews), who just got out of prison after twelve years, after them if they don't pay in a timely manner. The same day, Craig and Day-Day get jobs as "Top Flight Security Guards" from Moly (Maz Jobrani), the property manager and owner of a notoriously squalid donut shop and the shopping center that they're assigned to patrol. Later that day, they meet Donna (K.D. Aubert) and Money Mike (Katt Williams), who run a fledgling shop called 'Pimps and Hoes'. The shopping center is also the home of a BBQ rib restaurant called 'Bros. BBQ', owned by the cousins' fathers, Willie (John Witherspoon) and Elroy (Don "D.C." Curry). A couple of baseheads try to rob money mike's store and Craig and Day-day catch them both. He offers them a cash reward but Craig denies it and invites him to his party.
Craig and Day-Day throw a rent party later that night to recoup their stolen money and stay in their apartment. After the party is over, they see the robber and give a chase, running into other obsticles and are ultimately unsuccessful. Eventually, the robber gets run over by Pinky's (Clifton Powell) limousine. The movie then ends when Craig and Day-Day retrieve their Christmas presents and tie the robber up on a chimney.
