Friday Information

Friday is a 1995 stoner comedy-drama-buddy film directed by F. Gary Gray, making it his directorial debut for a hit movie. 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 and Smokey, who must pay a drug dealer $200 by 10:00 PM that night. The film spawned two sequels: Next Friday and Friday After Next, and a proposed fourth film, Last Friday.

Plot

Throughout the day, friends and local neighborhood characters pass through, such as the harmless but always-scheming crackhead/petty thief Ezal; the unkempt, perpetual crackhead/moocher Felisha, who is also Debbie's sister; lascivious Pastor Clever, who has a brief fling with sultry parishioner Mrs. Parker before being unexpectedly interrupted by her infuriated, diminutive dwarf husband; package delivery driver Red, whose stolen bicycle and chain necklace, and black eye are courtesy of the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo; and China, friend of Craig's sister Dana.

The film's subplot focuses on Smokey, who has been smoking a brokered consignment of "indo", which he was supposed to be selling for drug dealer Big Worm. 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 worth of drugs no later than 10:00 that evening, or he and Craig will be killed.

Smokey is able to recover some of the money by selling pot to Hector, whom he hates for making him the brunt of a prank involving smoking a joint laced with angel dust that left Smokey running down the street at night in his underwear while in a drug-induced frenzy. Unfortunately further attempts to borrow money from Joi, Betty (Craig's mother) and Craig's sister, Dana, prove unsuccessful. Willie eventually learns of Craig's plight, as well as the fact that Craig is carrying a gun around for protection, and furiously scolds him for keeping bad company and allowing himself to be corrupted by street life, explaining that it is better to fight one's problems out man-to-man rather than resorting to picking up a gun.

Later on, the two plan how they are going to get Big Worm's money. By then, Rita, 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 (as she told Smokey in their phone conversation), she is obese and practically bald (Smokey later said she looks more like Freddie Jackson).

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 earlier, but quickly leaves without the money as Deebo wakes up due to Ezail 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, but before they could leave Craig's house, they see Deebo riding by on Red's bike.

Looking down the block, the two notice a black car driving slowly and they hide behind a tree, suspecting a possible drive-by shooting 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 upon hearing 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 lambaste 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 the gun that he acquired earlier, but is ultimately convinced by Willie 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 the money he was after from the unconscious Deebo, Red retrieves his chain and bicycle (and delivers a parting shot of his own), and Ezail 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 the sending of his crew to shoot at him and Craig. Big Worm explains that he has had to warn Smokey too many times about his money and that it was all about the principle of handling business.

Smokey says he has the $200 that he owes to 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!"

Cast

• Ice Cube as Craig Jones
• Chris Tucker as Smokey
• Nia Long as Debbie
• Bernie Mac as Pastor Clever
• Tiny "Zeus" Lister, Jr. as Deebo
• John Witherspoon as Willie Jones
• Anna Maria Horsford as Betty Jones
• Regina King as Dana Jones
• Paula Jai Parker as Joi
• Faizon Love as Big Worm
• DJ Pooh as Red
• Angela Means as Felisha
• Vickilyn Reynolds as Joann
• Ronn Riser as Stanley JR
• Kathleen Bradley as Mrs. Parker
• Tony Cox as Mr. Parker
• Anthony Johnson as Ezail
• Demetrius Navarro as Hector
• Jason Bose Smith as Lil' Chris
• Justin Revoner as Kid #1
• Meagan Good as Kid #2
• Lawanda Page as Old Lady
• Terri J. Vaughn as China
• Yvette Wilson as Rita
• William L. Calhoun, Jr. as Shooter
• Reynaldo Rey as Red's father
• F. Gary Gray (Cameo) as Man sweeping at corner store
• Michael Clarke Duncan (uncredited) as Craps player

Release

Friday was released on April 26, 1995 in the United States, June 30, 1995 in the United Kingdom, and October 5, 1995 in Australia.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 2, 1999 and Blu-ray on September 8, 2009 with a new director's cut (97 minutes). The single disc DVD contains a theatrical trailer, a featurette on the film, and cast and crew interviews.

Reception

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 77% based on 22 reviews. Metacritic gives the film an average score of 54%, based on 10 reviews.

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • "Damn!" - Nominated

Box office

Friday grossed $6,589,341 on its opening weekend debuting at #2 in the box office in 865 theaters, averaging $7,617 per theater. The film grossed $27,467,564 in North America and $748,354 internationally, with a total of $28,215,918 worldwide.

Soundtrack

See Friday (soundtrack) for more information