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1995 American film
Friday
Theatrical release poster
Directed byF. Gary Gray
Written byIce Cube
DJ Pooh
Produced byPatricia Charbonnet
StarringIce Cube
Chris Tucker
Nia Long
Bernie Mac
Tommy Lister, Jr.
John Witherspoon
Narrated byIce Cube
CinematographyGerry Lively
Edited byJohn Carter
Music byFrank Fitzpatrick
Simon Franglen
Chuck Wild
Production
company		Priority Films
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
  • April 26, 1995 (1995-04-26)
Running time91 minutes
97 minutes (Director's cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million
Box office$28,215,918

Friday is a 1995 stoner comedy-drama-buddy film directed by F. Gary Gray, making it his directorial debut for a hit movie. Starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tommy Lister, Jr., and John Witherspoon, the film revolves around 16 hours in the lives of unemployed slackers Craig Jones and Smokey, who must pay a drug dealer $200 by 10:00 PM that night. The film spawned two sequels: Next Friday and Friday After Next, and a proposed fourth film, Last Friday.

Plot

Craig is awakened by Smokey at 8:00 AM. Craig was fired from UPS the day before, after being falsely accused of stealing boxes. His parents scold him, and his father offers him a job at animal control, where he works, but Craig declines. Smokey and Craig instead decide to spend the day on the porch hanging out, smoking weed, and visiting with friends.

Throughout the day, friends and local neighborhood characters pass through, such as the harmless but always-scheming crackhead/petty thief Ezal; the unkempt, perpetual crackhead/moocher Felisha, who is also Debbie's sister; lascivious Pastor Clever, who has a brief fling with sultry parishioner Mrs. Parker before being unexpectedly interrupted by her infuriated husband; package delivery driver Red, whose stolen bicycle, chain necklace, and black eye are all courtesy of the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo; and China, friend of Craig's sister Dana.

The film's subplot focuses on Smokey, who has been smoking a brokered consignment of "indo", which he was supposed to be selling for drug dealer Big Worm. In an attempt to explain his obvious lack of revenue, Smokey inadvertently incriminates Craig, subjecting both to Big Worm's wrath. Big Worm has had enough of Smokey "playing with his emotions" and warns him to collect the $200 worth of drugs no later than 10:00 that evening, or he and Craig will be killed.

Smokey is able to recover some of the money by selling pot to Hector, whom he hates for making him the brunt of a prank involving smoking a joint laced with angel dust that left Smokey running down the street at night in his underwear while in a drug-induced frenzy. Unfortunately further attempts to borrow money from Joi, Betty (Craig's mother) and Craig's sister, Dana, prove unsuccessful. Willie eventually learns of Craig's plight, as well as the fact that Craig is carrying a gun around for protection, and furiously scolds him for keeping bad company and allowing himself to be corrupted by street life, explaining that it is better to fight one's problems out man-to-man rather than resorting to picking up a gun.

Later on, the two plan how they are going to get Big Worm's money. By then, Rita, a girl Debbie had hooked Smokey up with earlier on the phone, arrives. Smokey approaches her car with confidence until he finds out that she lied about her image: instead of resembling Janet Jackson (as she told Smokey in their phone conversation), she is obese and practically bald (Smokey later said she looks more like Freddie Jackson).

Smokey heads to Debbie's house to complain about the date and notices Red's bike, which has been stolen by Deebo, on the lawn. He sneaks into a bedroom and finds Deebo asleep with Felisha beside him. He tries to steal the rest of the money that he and Deebo lifted from robbing Craig's neighbor Stanley earlier, but quickly leaves without the money as Deebo wakes up due to Ezail making noise as he tried to sneak inside the bedroom. Smokey goes back to Craig's house to tell him about the available money. Craig agrees to return to Debbie and Felisha's house to steal it from Deebo, but before they could leave Craig's house, they see Deebo riding by on Red's bike.

Looking down the block, the two notice a black car driving slowly and they hide behind a tree, suspecting a possible drive-by shooting will occur. They settle back into Craig's room for about an hour, trying to get in touch with Big Worm. They decide to go back outside to prove they are not scared. Once outside, they notice a black van parked outside in the middle of the street with the headlights off. The two flee as the men in the van start shooting at them with submachine guns, ultimately landing in the back of a pick up truck where they remain safe.

Everyone in the neighborhood emerges from their homes upon hearing the gunshots. Debbie confronts Deebo for physically assaulting Felisha. Deebo tells her that Felisha was trying to steal money from his pants, falsely accusing her for Smokey's earlier attempted theft, and warns her to go home. She continues to lambaste Deebo until he slaps her in the face. At this moment, Craig and Smokey arrive on the scene and Craig immediately steps in to defend Debbie. He stands up to Deebo and threatens him with the gun that he acquired earlier, but is ultimately convinced by Willie to hand the gun over to him. Craig and Deebo then engage in a bare-knuckle brawl. After a brutal fight, Craig emerges as the victor. Debbie tends to Craig, while Smokey steals the money he was after from the unconscious Deebo, Red retrieves his chain and bicycle (and delivers a parting shot of his own), and Ezail steals Deebo's shoes.

In the end, Craig has seemingly overcome all of the day's tribulations, save for finding employment. He and Debbie seem to hook up in the end, leading Craig to break up with Joi over the phone. Later, Smokey has a talk with Big Worm over the phone stating how he did not appreciate the sending of his crew to shoot at him and Craig. Big Worm explains that he has had to warn Smokey too many times about his money and that it was all about the principle of handling business.

Smokey says he has the $200 that he owes to Big Worm and that Big Worm should deal weed himself next time, as he is going to rehab. After hanging up, Smokey looks up, lights up a joint and ends the film by shouting at the audience, "I was just bullshittin'! And you know this, man!"

Cast

See also: List of Friday characters
File:Deebo.jpg
Tom Lister, Jr., as the neighborhood thug Deebo.

Release

Friday was released on April 26, 1995 in the United States, June 30, 1995 in the United Kingdom, and October 5, 1995 in Australia.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 2, 1999 and Blu-ray on September 8, 2009 with a new director's cut (97 minutes). The single disc DVD contains a theatrical trailer, a featurette on the film, and cast and crew interviews.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 77% based on 22 reviews. Metacritic gives the film a positive score of 72%, based on 10 reviews.

American Film Institute recognition:

Box office

Friday grossed $6,589,341 on its opening weekend debuting at #2 in the box office in 865 theaters, averaging $7,617 per theater. The film grossed $27,467,564 in North America and $748,354 internationally, with a total of $28,215,918 worldwide.

Soundtrack

Main article: Friday (soundtrack)

References

  1. ^ "Friday (1995)". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. June 13, 1995. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  2. "Friday (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  3. "Friday". Metacritic. CBS. September 27, 1999. Retrieved October 8, 2010.
  4. AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees
  5. "Weekend Box Office". The Los Angeles Times. May 2, 1995. Retrieved December 3, 2010.

External links

Fr

Films directed by F. Gary Gray
Categories: