Rooftop Cinema Club: Ice Cube's Friday (1995)
The first and liveliest installment of what turned out to be actor and screenwriter Ice Cube’s three-picture franchise invites us to spend a day in the hood with agreeable burnout Craig Jones (Cube) and his cock-eyed caravan of friends and other assorted ne’er-do-wells. (Bernie Mac and John Witherspoon add a touch of picturesque eccentricity, and when it comes to comic menace, nobody bullies a neighborhood with more assurity than ‘Tiny’ Lister.) Like any bush-league drug dealer, best friend Smokey (Chris Tucker), too big a user to be a pusher, is into his supplier for $200 and eager to deflect a little incriminating heat Craig’s way. The two are given until 10 pm to come up with the cash, or else. Tired of all the negativity Hollywood affords African-American culture, Cube and co-scripter DJ Pooh sought to put a funny, more upbeat spin on their boyz (and girlz) in the hood. The comedy marked F. Gary Gray’s directorial debut, but something tells me this was one of those scripts that directed itself. — Scott Marks