All About the Benjamins
All About the Benjamins is a 2002 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Bray, starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps as a bounty hunter and a con artist who join forces to find a group of diamond thieves: the former for glory, and the latter to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. The film was released in theaters in March 2002 to negative reviews. Despite this, the film was a moderate box office hit. The film's title was taken from the popular 1997 hip-hop song performed by Puff Daddy "It's All About the Benjamins". Ice Cube and Mike Epps also starred together in the Friday series and the (2009) film Janky Promoters.
| All About the Benjamins | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Kevin Bray |
| Produced by | Matt Alvarez Ice Cube |
| Written by | Ice Cube Ronald Lang |
| Starring | Ice Cube Mike Epps Eva Mendes Tommy Flanagan |
| Music by | John Murphy |
| Cinematography | Glen MacPherson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $26,306,533[1] |
Plot
Tyson Bucum (Ice Cube), a maverick bounty hunter, is out to capture a petty drug dealer, Lil J (Anthony Michael Hall). Bucum confronts Lil J in his trailer home and nearly handcuffs him, but Lil J's girlfriend, who wields a shotgun, recklessly shoots at Bucum. Bucum manages to tackle Lil J's girlfriend and arrest Lil J. Bucum's boss Martinez (Anthony Giaimo), however, is not pleased with Bucum and pays him less than expected. After a brief conversation about the lottery with his attractive co-worker Pam (Valarie Rae Miller), Bucum learns from Martinez that he must capture a con man named Reggie Wright (Mike Epps), whom Bucum has captured three times prior.
Bucum sees Reggie at a convenience store but fails to catch him after a long chase through Miami. Meanwhile, during a photoshoot, diamond thieves Julian (Roger Guenveur Smith) and Ursula (Carmen Chaplin) are posing as a photographer and model until a Mr. Barkley arrives. The duo murder the co-photographer, the makeup artist and Barkley's bodyguards, much to Barkley's surprise. Barkley is then shot in the head after a brief dialogue with Julian for murdering the witnesses. They then retrieve diamonds from the shoot. Bucum tracks down Reggie again and chases him until he remains unnoticed since he is hidden in a van. The thieves comes down, upon running into him instantly by accident, shoots at Bucum, who shoots back in response, and escapes, unbeknownst to them that Reggie is hidden. In a boatyard, the thieves finds Reggie in the van and shoot at him when he escapes, leaving his wallet behind, which is picked up by Juilian. At the crime scene, Martinez is fed up of Bucum's attempts and orders him to stay away from Reggie.
In Reggie's apartment, Reggie and his girlfriend Gina (Eva Mendes) eventually win the lottery, only to find out that Reggie lost the latter, which was in Reggie's wallet. In the boatyard, Julian and Ursula are yelled at by their boss Williamson (Tommy Flanagan), having told him that the diamonds they retrieved from the shoot were fake. Out of frustration of not getting the diamonds, Williamson responds by shooting Julian in the arm, severely wounding him, which is later enclosed in an arm brace. Reggie is soon captured by Bucum during an attempt to retrieve his wallet and while in the car, Reggie manages to convince Bucum to find his wallet and find the thieves. At the boatyard, Bucum and Reggie realizes that the van is unclear of its location, so Bucum tries to look into the connection of the photo shoot and the van, while Reggie is handcuffed to his bed with Gina. Julian, in a psychopathic state, goes after Reggie. He arrives at the apartment, and is knocked unconscious by Bucum, having anticipated him coming after Reggie. The duo then decides to torture Julian into answers by pending a screwdriver into Julian's arm brace, which can rip through his skin. Julian then reveals Williamson's name. Bucum awaits in the boatyard of Williamson's boat dealership and poses as a customer. This soon fails, so the duo decides to go to the Barkley residence. At the house, they find a dead Mrs. Barkley, a man named Roscoe who was the one who murdered Mrs. Barkley, and attacks Bucum (only to be knocked out by Reggie), eventually finding the diamonds in a fish tank. They return to Bucum's apartment and discover that Williamson has kidnapped Gina.
In response, they roll a car into Williamson's boat dealership with Julian and Roscoe unconscious in the cab. Willamson finds a tape recorder that informs him to meet Reggie and Bucum at a dog track with Gina to exchange for the diamonds. This goes successful with Pam posing as a janitor, Reggie revealing the diamonds, and Bucum taking position as sniper in a dog tracksman disguise to take out a sniper working for Williamson until Reggie flips the diamonds off of Williamson's hands leading to a shootout and chase. During the chase, Williamson pulls out a bazooka and opens fire, missing Bucum, Reggie, Gina and Pam but instead blowing up a nearby fish truck. He escapes, and Bucum and Reggie are so fed up with the plan that they decide to break up their partnership . Pam convinces Bucum to talk to Reggie and they make up again. The duo tracks Williamson to a boat dock in which Gina and Pam await behind them in the car. Bucum gives Reggie a taser since Reggie accidentally dropped one of Bucum's guns into the ocean. On the boat, as Bucum leaves, he sees Pam and Gina running away, having knocked out two henchman by pushing a lifeboat in their direction. Meanwhile, Reggie finds his wallet and recovers the lottery ticket, but is soon caught by Williamson and Ursula and he even forces Reggie to take his money on the boat. Bucum, taking Ursula as a hostage, catches up with them. Williamson, in response, kills Ursula by shooting her in the head and wounds Reggie, leading to a fight as the boat speeds up. Williamson is knocked out by the boat's speed and the boat crashes onto shore. Bucum and Reggie reunite until Williamson, badly injured, attacks Bucum. Reggie tases him and Bucum shoots Williamson to death multiple times. Later, Bucum and Reggie are figuring out what to do next but the coast guards are coming, and Bucum is forced to handcuff Reggie and hide the money.
Six weeks later, Reggie is released from prison. He initially believes that his friends have abandoned him until Bucum finally arrives, along with Gina and Pam. Bucum, who has a new car and spending money, reveals the winning ticket. The film ends with Reggie celebrating his new wealth with Bucum, their women, and the two elderly friends of Reggie, skiing on the boat through the ocean.
Cast
- Ice Cube as Tyson Bucum: a bounty hunter who has a hatred for his job due to low-budget payment and teams up with Reggie, eventually befriending him.
- Mike Epps as Reggie Wright: a con-artist who teams with Bucum.
- Eva Mendes as Gina: Reggie's girlfriend
- Tommy Flanagan as Robert Williamson: a car dealership owner who wants the diamonds in exchange for money and the main antagonist.
- Carmen Chaplin as Ursula: a diamond thief working for Williamson and also his lover.
- Anthony Giaimo as Martinez: Bucum's boss
- Robert MacBeth as Mr. Shelton: a local store owner who shows great annoyance of Reggie.
- Valarie Rae Miller as Pam: Bucum's girlfriend who is also his co-worker.
- Roger Guenveur Smith as Julian Ramose: a diamond thief working for Williamson.
- Bob Carter as Mr. Barkley: a wealthy man who has a batch of diamonds, wanted by Williamson.
- Bow Wow as Kelly (Lil Bow Wow): a neighbor of Reggie.
- Anthony Michael Hall as Lil J: a con artist who is arrested by Bucum earlier in the film.
- Barbara Barron as Mrs. Barkley: the wife of Mr. Barkley.
Response
Upon initial release, All About The Benjamins received generally negative reviews from critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 30% approval rating based on 76 reviews, with an average score of 4.33/10. The site's consensus states that the film is "A sloppy, poorly directed action-comedy" and "is too derivative and gratuitously violent".[2]
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and rhythm and blues music was released on February 19, 2002 by New Line Records. It peaked at #65 on the Billboard 200 and #12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
References
- "All About the Benjamins (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
- "All About the Benjamins (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 22, 2019.