| Friday | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | F. Gary Gray |
| Produced by | Patricia Charbonnet |
| 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 97 min (director's cut) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million |
| Box office | Domestic $27,467,564 Foreign $748,354 Worldwide $28,215,918 |
Friday is a 1995 stoner comedy-drama-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 unemployed slackers Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), who must pay a drug dealer $200 on Friday night by 10:00 PM. The film spawned two sequels: Next Friday, and Friday After Next.
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The film takes a look at one single Friday in the life of two friends, Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Chris Tucker), in South Central Los Angeles, California. Craig has recently been fired from his job while attempting to collect his wages, as he was allegedly caught on camera stealing cardboard boxes from UPS, although he claims innocence. Exacerbating his dilemma, his father, Mr. Jones (John Witherspoon), attempts to persuade Craig to join him in becoming a dog catcher. Meanwhile, Craig has been eyeing pretty neighbor Debbie (Nia Long), but his insanely jealous girlfriend Joi (Paula Jai Parker) is a formidable obstacle.
Throughout the day, friends and local neighborhood characters pass through, such as the harmless but always-scheming crack head and petty thief Ezal (Anthony Johnson); the unkempt, perpetual crack head/moocher Felisha (Angela Means), who is also Debbie's sister; lascivious Pastor Clever (Bernie Mac), who has a brief fling with sultry parishioner Mrs. Parker (Kathleen Bradley) before being unexpectedly interrupted by her infuriated, diminutive dwarf husband (Tony Cox); package delivery driver Red (DJ Pooh), whose stolen bicycle, chain necklace and black eye are courtesy of the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo (Tommy Lister, Jr.); and Shana (Terri J. Vaughn), friend of Craig's sister Dana (Regina King).
The film's subplot focuses on Craig's stoner friend Smokey (Chris Tucker), who has been smoking a brokered consignment of "indo", which he was supposed to be selling for drug dealer Big Worm (Faizon Love). 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 dollars worth of drugs 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, Rita (Yvette Wilson), 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 like she said, she is portly and practically bald.
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 (Ronn Riser) earlier, but quickly leaves without the money as Deebo wakes up due to Ezal 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.
On the way, the two notice a black car driving slowly down the street and they hide behind a tree, suspecting a possible drive-by 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 as they hear 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 lambast 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 a gun that he acquired earlier. Craig is convinced by his father 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 money from the unconscious Deebo, Red retrieves his chain and bicycle, and Ezal 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 him sending his crew to shoot at him and Craig. Big Worm explains that he had to warn Smokey too many times about his money and that it was all about the principle of handling business. Smokey says he got the $200 that he owes 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!"
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 77% favorable reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes,[1] and on Metacritic the film has received an average score of 54, based on 10 reviews.[2]
American Film Institute recognition:
Friday grossed $6,589,341 on its opening weekend debuting at #2 in the box office in 865 theaters, averaging $7,617 per theater.[4] 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.[5]
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