“Friday” is the movie you watch and re-watch when you just want to laugh and start quoting iconic lines.
Unfortunately, it’s also a movie I re-watched after learning of the passing of John Witherspoon, who played Willie Jones, the father of Ice Cube’s character, in the film. The character that Witherspoon portrays in this film has become a bit of a caricature at this point but, at the time of “Friday”’s original release, Witherspoon was continuing to make his mark in the lore of African-American comedy.
This role eventually became one of his most iconic roles and served to cement his legacy.
“Friday” also served as Ice Cube’s attempt to portray the hood in a different light compared to the overwhelming violence that had ruled its depiction before.
The film was a showcase for Chris Tucker’s unique brand of humor. His line delivery catapulted a script that may have otherwise been lackluster. He and Ice Cube also made a four-letter word amazingly popular in the meme-culture of today.
The plot of the film is simple and often finds the two lead characters, Craig Jones (Ice Cube) and Smokey (Tucker) watching the everyday happenings of the neighborhood. At first, it doesn’t seem like a very sustainable plot but the comedy makes it enjoyable enough.
And yes, some of the jokes may be a bit dated. Even still, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have a few lines from the film stuck in my head.
As I mentioned before, the script is improved upon by energetic performances from the entire cast, which is not to say that Ice Cube’s writing talents didn’t translate to the screenplay page. Although it helps when you have the talents of Regina King, who had already established on-screen chemistry with Ice Cube from their work on “Boyz in the Hood.”
Witherspoon has a scene with Ice Cube when the former is actively using the restroom, which was just asking for cheap laughs. Witherspoon’s delivery made up for the tackiness though, giving the scene a hint of comedic merit.
I’d also like to point out that I’m writing this on a Friday. Now I bid you a “bye-Felisha.
