| 6th | Top films set in Los Angeles: 1990s |
| Friday | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | F. Gary Gray |
| Written by | Ice Cube DJ Pooh |
| Narrated by | Ice Cube |
| Starring | Ice Cube Chris Tucker Nia Long Faizon Love Tommy Lister, Jr. Anna Maria Horsford with Bernie Mac and John Witherspoon |
| Music by | Ice Cube Frank Fitzpatrick (Music Supervisor) |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | April 26, 1995 |
| Running time | 91 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million |
| Gross revenue | Domestic $27,467,564 Foreign $748,354 Worldwide $28,215,918 |
| Followed by | Next Friday |
Friday is a 1995 dramatic comedy-buddy film directed by F. Gary Gray. 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 Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), who must pay a drug dealer $200 on Friday night by 10:00PM on the dot. The film also marks the first film appearance of Michael Clarke Duncan, but was uncredited at the time.
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The film is a look at one particular day (Friday) in the life of two friends, Craig Jones ( Ice Cube) and Smokey ( Chris Tucker), in urban Los Angeles. Straight-laced Craig has recently been fired from his job while attempting to collect his wages (he was allegedly caught on camera stealing boxes), although he claims innocence. Exacerbating his dilemma, his parents (John Witherspoon and Anna Maria Horsford) are threatening to evict him from the family home unless he quickly finds new employment. Meanwhile, Craig has been eyeing comely, pretty neighbor Debbie (Nia Long), but his insanely jealous, ghetto-fabulous girlfriend Joi (Paula Jai Parker) is a formidable obstacle (ironically, an unidentified man was seen in Joi's bed in the beginning of the film, while she was arguing with Craig on the phone).
Throughout the day, friends and local neighborhood characters pass through: the harmless but always-scheming crack head and petty thief Ezal (Anthony Johnson); the unkempt, perpetually mooching Felicia; lascivious Pastor Clever (Bernie Mac), who has a brief fling with sultry parishioner Ms. Parker (Kathleen Bradley), before being unexpectedly interrupted by her infuriated, diminutive husband (Tony Cox); package delivery driver Red (DJ Pooh), whose stolen bicycle, chain necklace and black eye are courtesy of the hulking bully Deebo (Tommy Lister, Jr.); and Shana (Terri J. Vaughn), friend of sister Dana (Regina King). Much earlier, Debbie hooks Smokey up with a blind date (Yvette Wilson) over the phone who claims she bears a resemblance to Janet Jackson.
The film's subplot focuses on Smokey who has been depleting (smoking) a brokered consignment of indo, thus indebting him to a drug dealer. In an attempt to explain his obvious lack of revenue, Smokey inadvertently incriminates Craig, subjecting both to the dealer’s wrath. The dealer, Big Worm (Faizon Love), has had enough of Smokey "playing with his emotions" and warns him to show a substantial profit no later than 10:00 that evening, or he and Craig will be killed. Later on, the two plan how they are going to get Big Worm's money. By then Smokey's blind date Rita (Yvette Wilson) arrives. Smokey approaches her car with confidence until he finds out that she "lied" about her image. Instead of resembling Janet Jackson, she is portly and practically bald. Smokey heads to Debbie's house to complain about the date and notices Deebo's (Red's) bike on the lawn. He sneaks in the bedroom and there he finds Deebo sound asleep with Felicia beside him. He tries to steal the rest of money he and Craig lifted from robbing Stanley earlier, but quickly leaves without the money as Deebo wakes up. Smokey goes back the porch to tell Craig about this. They settle back into Craig's room for a 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 pulling up the neighborhood with the headlights off. The two flee as the men in the truck 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 emerge from their homes as they hear the gunshots. Debbie confronts Deebo for giving her sister a black eye. Deebo told her that she was trying to steal money from his pants (in fact it was Smokey) and warns her to go home. She continues to tell off Deebo until she gets hit. At this moment, Craig and Smokey arrive on the scene and Craig immediately steps in to defend Debbie. He stands up to Deebo, even threatening Deebo with a gun he acquired before the movie begins. Craig is convinced by his father to hand over the gun to him, then he immediately engages into a bare-knuckle brawl with Deebo, which Craig wins. Debbie tends to Craig, while Smokey steals money from the unconscious Deebo. Red gets his chain and bicycle back, and even punches Deebo while he was trying to wake back up. In the finale, 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 his girlfriend on the phone. Later, Smokey has a talk with Big Worm over the phone regarding the shooting. Big Worm said he had to warn Smokey about his money because it's all about the "principles" of handling business. Smokey says he got the $200 that he owes Big Worm and that he 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, "I was just bullshittin'! And you know this, man!".
Tagline: A lot can go down between Thursday and Saturday...
Friday was released on April 26, 1995 in the United States, June 30, 1995 in the United Kingdom and October 5, 1995 in Australia.
It was released on DVD on March 2, 1999 and on Blu-ray on September 8, 2009 with a new director's cut. The single disc DVD contains a theatrical trailer, a featurette on the movie and cast and crew interviews.
The movie garnered mostly positive reviews by critics, earning 79% favorable reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes, [1] and on Metacritic the film has received an average score of 74, based on 52 reviews. [2]
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 has grossed $27,467,564 in North America and $748,354 in the Foreign box office with a total of $28,215,918 worldwide. [3]
MTV Movie Awards 1996
The film has spawned two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. The sequels were successful at the box office but a failure with critics.
Another sequel, tentatively titled Last Friday, was rumored to be in the works in 2007. The film was to star all of the original cast from the previous Friday films. However, no news on production was ever confirmed.
An animated television series based on the film was premiered on MTV2, on Sunday, June 24, 2007.
The Friday soundtrack consists mainly of Hip Hop music and features artists such as Ice Cube, Dr.Dre, Cypress Hill, Scarface, and Rick James.
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Friday is a 1995 comedy buddy film directed by F. Gary Gray. Starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Tom Lister, Jr. and John Witherspoon, the film revolves around 16 hours in the lives of Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), who must pay $200 to a drug dealer before 10:00 p.m. on Friday night. The protagonists spend the majority of that time sitting on Craig's porch and interacting with their oddball neighbors and friends. The movie was released on the 26th of April 1995 and has since spawned 2 sequels and an animated series.
Contents |
[Craig enters bathroom, Mr Jones is spraying air freshener]
...Urgh! [plop]
...Urrrgh! [plop]
   | BoxOfficeMojo Budget for Next Friday - Next Friday (2000) |
| | Are We There Yet?: An Interview with Ice Cube - January 2005 | blackfilm.com | features | interview | Ice Cube |
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