September 15, 2009
DVD OF THE WEEK: Next Day Air
Directed by Benny Boom
2009, 84 minutes, USA
Summit Entertainment Scott Sanders' Black Dynamite (opening theatrically in the U.S. next month) meticulously spoofs the blaxploitation genre and all its pimps, dope pushers, martial artistry, noticeable boom mics, and funky bow-chicka-wowness, but while co-creator and star Michael Jai White's muscular comic charisma impresses, the film itself does not. The problem is that blaxploitation—unlike science-fiction, horror movies, and strangely for this argument, westerns—is so anchored to the music and mood of the grindhouse era that there's little place for reverent homage in 2009. That Black Dynamite deadpans like it came straight outta 1972 without addressing the flashback through contemporary hindsight, nor at any other time strives for the over-the-top giddiness of its climactic nunchaku showdown against Richard Nixon, underscores its irrelevance. We're better off watching Truck Turner again and appreciating that this kind of filmmaking back then was the real deal, maybe even akin to taking down The Man.
On the other hand, what gives the unexpectedly rousing Next Day Air its idiosyncratic flavor is that it begins with and updates the spirit of blaxploitation without feeling pressed to worship or satirize it. I'm not convinced that every half-decent genre flick invading the multiplexes is so enriching that high-minded cinephiles should embrace them (fun enough but forgettable, District 9's overhype still mystifies me), but what hip-hop video director Benny Boom's feature debut pulls off is a styled-down entertainment that works as both a loose-lipped comedy and a cleverly engineered thriller. Sure, the film needs its mouth washed out with soap and the threat of gratuitous bloodletting lurks in nearly every scene, but the characters exude soul and empathy (even at their greediest or most desperate), and most of the violence takes place offscreen until its weight needs to be felt. And it does, like a karmic comeuppance that proves Boom and writer Blair Cobbs are making no attempt to glamorize thug life.
The screwball plot catalyst comes courtesy of Scrubs star Donald Faison (as a pothead delivery guy on thin ice with his boss/mother) who, in a smoky daze, accidentally delivers a package hiding cocaine to the wrong Philadelphia apartment—and by fluke, to a different branch of criminals. Mike Epps and The Wire's Wood Harris are the clueless robbers and (un)lucky new recipients who plan to sell off the stash quickly to Epps' cousin, while Cisco Reyes and Yasmin Deliz are the bickering Puerto Rican couple who have to track down their bricks or else face the wrath of an underworld boss named, yes, "Bodega Diablo." Here come the antics, mayhem, and a whole lot of firepower.
The first puffs of smoke between Faison and the sadly underutilized Mos Def feel like Friday, and the overlapping ensemble narrative will draw comparisons to Pulp Fiction (or even True Romance, down to its Mexican standoff and an couch-surfing roomie who obliviously naps through every life-or-death decision). But even keepers like those don't have the old-school bite and grit of Next Day Air. While it's obvious that delivery company "NDA" is an abbreviation for the film's title, it wouldn't surprise me if Boom and Cobbs are riffing on the similarly old-school cred of hip-hop legends N.W.A. After all, these boyz are literally "delivering attitude."
Posted by ahillis at September 15, 2009 2:03 PM
Thank god! I thought I was the only one who loved this flick. I think Next Day Air was almost the most fun I had at the movies this year. Awesome pick.
Posted by: Jonathan Poritsky at September 15, 2009 4:35 PMOh, cool. Nathan Rabin gave this a good review when it came out, but nobody else said anything remotely positive about it so I thought he might've been full of it. But if two critics I respect are on board...well, it's one short of a trend, but it's enough for me to Netflix the shit out of this movie.
Posted by: Earthworm Jim at September 15, 2009 5:51 PMA blaxploitation movie is not a blaxploitation simply because black people are in it. It's a movie that addresses a very specific moment in time, playing with the political, social, and sexual mores in black culture, mainly from 1971-1976 or so. Next Day Air is about as blaxploitation as Fast and the Furious is a Western.
Your analysis comes off as a bit ignorant.
Posted by: Joey Bones at September 15, 2009 7:08 PMPlease read the piece again, Joey, that's not at all what I said: "The problem is that blaxploitation—unlike science-fiction, horror movies, and strangely for this argument, westerns—is so anchored to the music and mood of the grindhouse era that there's little place for reverent homage in 2009."
I also said that it's an update to the spirit of the genre, which in this case is a modern-day exploitation film targeted to black audiences. I don't see the ignorance in something as provable as that.
Posted by: Aaron Hillis at September 15, 2009 8:05 PMJim and all, you can also "GreenCine the shit out of it" too, you know! ;-)
I'm glad Aaron reminded me that I wanted to see this one. And I enjoyed Friday when it first came out, too.
Go Wood Harris!
cp
Posted by: Craig P at September 15, 2009 8:18 PMTo say "Next Day Air" captures the spirit of blaxploitation better than "Black Dynamite" is entirely baseless. Blaxploitation is a 70s genre based on those times specifically. It's not just any movie that deals with an exploitation genre targeting black people. Every Boys in the Hood rip off is an exploitation movie targeting black people. Tyler Perry's movies can be considered an exploitation genre targeting black people. None of these movies have anything to do with "Blaxploitation." Again, it seems to me, that there is a certain amount of generalizing when it comes to black people and movies. Not trying to be obnoxious or anything, I just don't get the broad generalizations. What in Next Day Air has anything to do with Truck Turner or any other blaxploitation movie, other than they are black?
Posted by: Joey Bones at September 15, 2009 10:07 PMAgain, Joey, let's not misquote here. NDA is, as I said, an update. It jumps off from those '70s films with its funky style (the production design references without mimicking), empowered but ghettoized characters (stoners, thugs, thieves), and crowd-pleasing genre sensationalism. Is it as radical as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song? Hardly, but the influence is still right there on its sleeve. The point is, you're getting hung up on a word, and I'm guessing you haven't yet seen the film. Would it calm your mind to just call it neo-blaxploitation?
One further clarification: Boyz N the Hood definitely owes some debt to those films, and I'm pretty sure Tyler Perry would heartily disagree that his dramedies are meant to be exploitative in the slightest, even with a camp creation like Madea.
[EDITOR'S WARNING: Spoiler Alert!!!]
It didn't make sense to me in the end, when the cousin walked away with out takin' the money or the drugs with him just because he didn't wanna be in that life anymore. He still owed the drugs to whomever fronted him all that cash and now he'd have to watch his back all the time. A major flaw in the movie if you ask me. Otherwise, the movie was great. Maybe I'm just picky, but seems like the writers didn't think it through and the ending bugged me. :/
Posted by: Nikki at September 19, 2009 9:16 PMSo Much Dust in the house i thought that the fucking kichtin was on fire....
Mike Epps
Posted by: at November 25, 2009 8:17 PM
Subscribe to GreenCine Daily RSS
Subscribe to GreenCine Daily by email
