Today Hollywood can take any subject and turn it into what they call comedy, as long as the writers know what they are doing it works. If they don't then you get something like "Next Day Air" a comedy that takes a serious subject, like gangs and drugs, adds some major comedic star power, and still come up empty.
When an inept delivery driver, delivers a box of concealed bricks of cocaine to the wrong address, things go from bad to worse quickly. This sets in motion a desperate search for the package, between the furious dealer that sent it, the intended recipients that missed it, and the accidental recipients that plan to sell it. Leo (Donald Faison) is the son of the delivery services manager, after he is called into her office, he promises his mother, yes she is the manager, that he won't smoke any more pot while he is driving for the company.
When Leo makes the mistake of dropping a package off at the wrong address no one is the wiser, until the drug lord wants his merchandise back. The people who live in the apartment where the box is dropped off, think it's a package from God. Brody (Mike Epps), Guch (Wood Harris) and their unwanted room mate Hassie (Malik Barnhardt) are three of the worst conmen, robbers and thiefs ever to try their hand at crime. They rob a bank and only take the video tapes. When they open the box of cocaine they think their ship has finally come in, Brody suggests that his cousin Shavoo (Omari Hardwick) will buy all ten bricks, cause he is a baller. Shavoo tells Brody he will buy the bricks but Shavoo doesn't know Guch, so he brings his friend Buddy (Darius McCrary) along.
When Bodega (Emilio Rivera) calls to find out if the shipment has arrived, Jesus (Cisci Reyes) tells him that it hasn't, Bodega tells him that he has tracked the package and that it has been signed for. Jesus has his girl Chita (Yasmin Deliz) go to a payphone to track the package, she is so dumb that she can't even handle this small task. Bodega decides he has to go to Philly to find his package so he takes Rhino (Lobo Sebastian) with him as his back up. Leo comes across another driver, Eric (Mos Def) going through peoples packages, Eric once told Leo that he has every right to do this and if they try to fire him he will scream prejudice. Right. Is that a good message to teach our kids? When Jesus and Chita come across Eric in his truck they pull weapons on him and threaten his life, all this for some drugs, after this little scene, Mos Def is gone, he has maybe ten minutes of screen time, so if you want to see this movie for him, DON'T.
When Bodega and Rhino get to Philly, they go to Jesus and Chita, Bodega tells them that they better come up with the drugs or else. When they finally come across Leo they beat him up and tell him unless he takes them to where he dropped the package off they are going to kill him. Back in the apartment where the drugs are Shavoo has agreed to buy the drugs so he takes Buddy to the storage locker to pick up his cash, when he gets there the locker has been broken into and the money is gone, they soon find out that the two guys who work for the storage company have the money and after threatening them they get the money back. Heading back to the apartment Shavoo is surprised when Buddy pulls out several weapons, he says he isn't sure they will be needed but it's best to just have them anyway. Up in the apartment Guch has hidden guns all over as well, just in case he says.
Once the eight main characters are set to show up at the right apartment, this movie turns into a bloody mindless excuse for violence. The end of this movie makes you wonder what you found so funny up to this point. When did this comedy turn to an action movie, when did the viewers get left behind, where did we get shafted? My thought is this, we got shafted when we plunked down our ten dollars for this stupid unfunny movie.
I give Next Day Air a 0 and on my avoidance scale a 4, this is the type of movie I try to warn movie viewers to stay away from. The comedy isn't worth the mindless violent ending. If comedies with a violent twist is your thing then this is your kind of movie, if you have any more intelligence than a common house fly stay away from this useless pile of drivel.
Next Day Air is rated R for Pervasive Language, Drug Content, Some Violence and Brief Sexuality
Running time is 1 hr. 30 mins.
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