Next Day Air (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  There is nothing terribly original about the plot, situations, or characters in this film. It all comes off like a specifically ethnic take on the works of Quentin Tarantino, Elmore Leonard, or Guy Ritchie. For those reasons, I should probably give this thing 2.5-3 at best. However,… More
  There is nothing terribly original about the plot, situations, or characters in this film. It all comes off like a specifically ethnic take on the works of Quentin Tarantino, Elmore Leonard, or Guy Ritchie. For those reasons, I should probably give this thing 2.5-3 at best. However, I'm giving this a mild recommendation anyway. I am doing this because, as unoriginal as this is, it is still wildly entertaining, pretty funny, and just a wacky crime caper. Roger Ebert was right to call it a bloody screwball comedy. Besides, the casting is pretty good, and their performances are not bad either. The film doesn't bullshit with the pacing, there's a lot of energy keeping things afloat, and the big setpiece at the end is pretty solid. Give this a chance. It may be warmed over b-footage from much better films, and despite that backhanded compliment, it somehow ends up better than it should be. For what it is, it's fine enough. God knows it could be a lot worse.

• Richard C

  
  I actually kind of liked this movie. It was kind of boring in some parts but it gets really entertaining in the last 20 minutes. It was also a lot funnier than i thought it would be. It's not really funny or hilarious but it has its moment. I liked it a lot more than i expected… More
  I actually kind of liked this movie. It was kind of boring in some parts but it gets really entertaining in the last 20 minutes. It was also a lot funnier than i thought it would be. It's not really funny or hilarious but it has its moment. I liked it a lot more than i expected too. It's not a great movie but i thought it was good. B-

• Derek A

  
  <i>Next Day Air</i> is one of the more underrated films in 2009. That doesn't mean it's a masterpiece, but it was highly entertaining. It's like an African American Guy Ritchie film. The plot centers around a large package of cocaine that is wrongfully… More
  <i>Next Day Air</i> is one of the more underrated films in 2009. That doesn't mean it's a masterpiece, but it was highly entertaining. It's like an African American Guy Ritchie film. The plot centers around a large package of cocaine that is wrongfully delivered to a couple of wanna-be gangsters/drug dealers. Hilarity ensues as the package's owner tries to recover his goods which follows a twisty plot and ends in an epic standoff.<p>This is by no means the greatest film of the year, but it's definitely a fun and entertaining rental.

• moon r

  
  a drug delivery goes wrong in philadelphia, whatever could happen next? ok, ok, but it's not supposed to be grade-a entertainment, only a sort of inner city character stereotype convention at best, and still worth a chuckle or two.

• Aaron N

  
  Gooch: Who sent us this package. Brody: God sent it. You know, sure this idea is familiar. 10 people, one particular item being shared between them, their plots all intersecting, eventually leading to a stand off of some sort, but you know what, I still enjoyed this movie. It has a… More
  Gooch: Who sent us this package. Brody: God sent it. You know, sure this idea is familiar. 10 people, one particular item being shared between them, their plots all intersecting, eventually leading to a stand off of some sort, but you know what, I still enjoyed this movie. It has a solid cast and is well directed. Leo: I dropped a box off here. It was the wrong address. So do you have it? Brody: Well...it was here. The plot involves a delivery man, Donald Faison, dropping off a box of cocaine in at the wrong house belonging to a couple of crooks, Mike Epps and Wood Harris. The crooks then decide to sell the drugs to their dealer cousin. Meanwhile, the people who the drugs belong to go on a search for their missing good, so their drug dealer boss doesn't kill them. So yes, Lock, Stock, Snatch and Reservoir Dogs (among many others) have played these cards before, but this movie still works at being entertaining. Moving up from music videos, director Benny Boom knows what works for this material and guides the movie along, briskly paced, and staged well enough for the different characters. All of the characters here basically work in groups, and they all have good chemistry with each other in their separate scenes. The movie functions well as a crime comedy, but even towards the end when some tension creeps in, the movie manages to deliver on that aspect as well. A fun enough diversion, even if its summer blockbuster season. Jesus: Yo, where did you drop it off. Leo: Honestly I don't remember, I was high off my ass yesterday.

• Jeff B

  
  Damaged package Next Day Air reaches for the sky, but cannot rise above being lower than a gutter snake’s belly. Aspiring to be as clever a caper as something Guy Ritchie might dream up after watching a Friday marathon, the flick knows what boxes it needs to check off to meet such… More
  Damaged package Next Day Air reaches for the sky, but cannot rise above being lower than a gutter snake’s belly. Aspiring to be as clever a caper as something Guy Ritchie might dream up after watching a Friday marathon, the flick knows what boxes it needs to check off to meet such expectations. There are wannabe gangsters, real gangsters, a MacGuffin switcheroo, and a climax that unceremoniously – and bloodily - ties everything together. Despite a clever hook, however, this small con is never the real rocknrolla. Though its winning cast actually gives the substandard material a fighting chance, the movie is simply a pawnshop rip-off. In the R-rated comedy Next Day Air, hi-jinks ensue when two parcel deliverymen (Faison, Dante ‘Mos Def’ Smith) accidentally deliver a package of grade-A cocaine to an apartment full of bumbling criminals (Epps, etc.). When a drug lord (Emilio Rivera) finds out that his package is missing, his knuckle-dragging underlings pull out all the stops to find it. Epps, Faison, Smith, and everybody else involved seem to be having the time of their lives…if only the audience could relate. Each actor tries to make the most out of this low-rent situation. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments provided by the neat-o set-up (stoned deliveryman, right package, wrong address) but the knock-off script struggles hard to be as witty and badass as, say, Snatch. The simpleton serpentine plotlines awkwardly come together in the third act…but the merger is never a smooth ride. It is a forced collision that frankly leaves moviegoers feeling robbed. Bottom Line: Poor delivery.

• Deb S

  
  The plot is about a drug deal gone wrong. Using an ordinary delivery service, a ruthless drug lord from California named Bodega (Emilio Rivera) ships ten bricks of high grade cocaine to Philadelphia. It was supposed to be delivered to Jesus (Cisco Reyes) and his girlfriend, Chita… More
  The plot is about a drug deal gone wrong. Using an ordinary delivery service, a ruthless drug lord from California named Bodega (Emilio Rivera) ships ten bricks of high grade cocaine to Philadelphia. It was supposed to be delivered to Jesus (Cisco Reyes) and his girlfriend, Chita (Yasmin Deliz), but a stoned courier named Leo (Donald Faison) inadvertently drops it off at the apartment further down the hall. It's now in the possession of three bumbling wannabe gangsters: Brody (Mike Epps), Guch (Wood Harris), and Hassie (Malik Barnhardt). While Hassie spends most of the film asleep on the couch, Brody and Guch quickly decide to get rich off the bricks by selling them to Brody's drug dealer cousin, Shavoo (Omari Hardwick) and his tightlipped bodyguard (Darius McCrary). But these fools have no clue that their neighbors down the hall -- the REAL gangster and his feisty girlfriend are connected to the Mexican mob and will do whatever it takes to recover their package. The film delivers tense action and laughs in alternate bursts and many moments are genuinely funny, in a blatant screwball way.

• Philip P

  
  ' Next Day Air' was like a bunch of rich kids got together and were able to make a movie that only has good actors because their dads have some kind of pull. It looked amateur at many parts and even the acting was bordering on horrible at some parts, especially that Jesus… More
  ' Next Day Air' was like a bunch of rich kids got together and were able to make a movie that only has good actors because their dads have some kind of pull. It looked amateur at many parts and even the acting was bordering on horrible at some parts, especially that Jesus guy. Though Mos Def is the bright spot of the film and gets center position on the movies poster, he is literally in the film for a total of about five minutes. Fason gives a half assed funny guy impersination that is wasted on a character we hope dies at the end-I would have rather it been him than the somewhat funnier Mike Epps. Epps is usually a great supporting comic character, but here, he has nothing to do and nothing funny to say at all-even his obvious improvs are lame and typical. I would say if you really want to see this, wait and rent it, but I really can't recommend wasting any time with this film, I was one of three people in the theater and the film produced hardly any laughs from any of us. It is hard to place this film in a category, you kind of get the sense for what they were going for, but it just doesn't work-I just wanted it to be over. The sad thing is, this plot isn't even contrived enough to engage you and that was the best thing it had going for it, was this somewhat good idea and execution, but it just didn't last and thats sad, alot of time and talent is wasted here.

• Remi L

  
  I guess this is what happens when music video directors decide they wanna be movie directors. Not to poop on this flick, because it actually was funny, but the sad part is that it could've been MORE. I did enjoy it, especially seeing the GORGEOUS Omari Hardwick (Dark Blue)… More
  I guess this is what happens when music video directors decide they wanna be movie directors. Not to poop on this flick, because it actually was funny, but the sad part is that it could've been MORE. I did enjoy it, especially seeing the GORGEOUS Omari Hardwick (Dark Blue) playing a villain instead of pretending to play a villain. The movie is funny, but in a Friday Lite kind of way. It comes THIS close but then falls short before the big payoff. The cast was great. I love how Donald Faison can play the loveable goofball one minute and then play the VERY believable guy suddenly stuck in a really crappy situation in the same film. Emilio Rivera needs to play a good guy for once. Granted he was smoother than silk on satin in this film, he's getting typecast. Darius McCrary, God love him, was trying WAY too hard to be gangsta. Its even more painfully obvious when you're reminded this is the son of a preacher who used to goof around on TV with Urkel. Mike Epps' comedic talents were squandered as well. Another random sidenote, Yasmin Deliz is the spitting image of Aaliyah. Seeing how this is her first film credit, I think people should keep an eye out for her. Plus, she can do funny. I will say I admired how Benny Boom was able to take this watered down comedy and suddenly switch genres in the second half of the film. You know whats coming towards the end of the film, but I admire how he switched gears the way he did. I'd say watch it if nothing else is on. As much as I enjoyed it, I would've been mad if I had actually paid to see this in a theater.

• Marisol M

  
  An attempted comedy of errors revolving around a misdelivered stash of cocaine. Never actually funny, just lightly amusing..up until the deflating finale.

• d j

  
  Supposed to be a comedy action movie...unfortunately it is lacking both...donald faison & mos def are the winners in this movie with decent acting but thats not saying a whole lot. I expected more from Mike Epps--but he just got on my nerves...not a win/win movie at all.

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