Mike Epps

  • The House Next Door aka Meet the Blacks 2 (2021)

    The House Next Door aka Meet the Blacks 2 (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, December 2021) I’m fond of silly comedies spoofing other genres, so there’s something in the vampire spoof of The House Next Door that provides at least a solid hook. I haven’t seen the first Meet the Blacks yet, but it’s not as if the basics are difficult to understand: When an average family sees a new strange neighbour move into the house next door, they can’t help but notice clues that something supernatural is afoot. Their suspicions are later proven right when the neighbour ends up being a vampire with a fixation on the protagonist’s wife. It’s a big blend of familiar tropes used as an excuse for Mike Epps (as the family-man protagonist) and Katt Williams (as the vampire antagonist) to goof around. Some of the material works, but let’s not pretend that this is good or particularly funny: the dialogue doesn’t fly high, and the jokes are seldom anything but obvious. The House Next Door has a straight-up male gaze, which would be far more enjoyable if the female characters had something interesting to do. But no — the focus here is on the guys and it’s not as if they’re worth the entire spotlight. Sure, it’s fun to see Danny Trejo and Snoop Dog appear for brief roles, but even their cameos can’t sustain the rest of the film when it sputters through familiar arcs and overextended jokes falling flat. The House Next Door, despite some indulgence and the combined attractiveness of Shamea Morton, Bresha Webb and Jena Frumes, remains a disappointing outing, not even successful at aping a Wayans-Brothers kind of comedy (which itself apes other better material). It wasn’t a complete waste of time, but I can’t see myself recommending most of it.

  • Next Day Air (2009)

    Next Day Air (2009)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, September 2021) I have some fondness for those small low-budget comic thrillers with mostly black casts — they’re often a lot of fun to watch even if they’re hardly essential, and it’s that category that I’d place Next Day Air, alongside such titles as All About the Benjamins, Bait, Blue Streak and a few others. The plot is more convoluted than complex, but it deals with an important package being delivered to the wrong address and the efforts of various groups to find it again. A few moderately known names (Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Mos Def) anchor the cast, but much of the film lives on the script rather than the performances. Director Benny Boom apparently has some fun managing the proceedings, although he seems hesitant to either go big on the comedy or the action. There are still a few good moments (including a crime-speak translation) and an eye-catching performance from Yasmin Deliz. Moving briskly at less than 90 minutes, Next Day Air works fast and works well as long as your expectations don’t run particularly high.

  • Next Friday (2000)

    Next Friday (2000)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, April 2016) The Friday series moves from the hood to the burbs in this bugger-budgeted follow-up, and the result may not necessarily be better overall, but it’s certainly funnier. Ice Cube stars as a young man who, following the events of the previous film, finds himself exiled to a cousin’s house for his own protection. Of course, mayhem both awaits and follows as Latino gangbangers live next door, and the first film’s antagonist is in hot pursuit. Slicker, slightly grander and more consistently funny than the first film, Next Friday may not have the hood/comedy juxtaposition effect running for it, but it’s a decent comedy in its own right. The laughs are there, the crazy characters abound, the rhythm is sustained (easily improving upon the first film’s laid-back approach to plotting) and the conclusion feels as if it gracefully ties up its plot threads. Mike Epps does well in a film that asks him to substitute for Chris Tucker, while Lisa Rodriguez does surprisingly well in a role that doesn’t require much more than being held in the centre of the male gaze so obvious to the film. Next Friday isn’t an overly ambitious film, and whatever social commentary value it has comes organically from Ice Cube’s perspective, but it’s a decent-enough film as a silly comedy and that’s all it needs to be.

  • Sparkle (2012)

    Sparkle (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, June 2013) There’s something extremely comfortable in Sparkle’s story about three female singers trying to make it in late-sixties Detroit.  It doesn’t take a detailed history of The Supremes to know the place, understand the challenges and guess the dangers they face from boyfriends, drugs, fame and familial disapproval.  The music is familiar to the point of being curiously forgettable, the period detail easily mirrors countless other similar films and the stage cinematography feels like an old comfortable sequin dress.  The plot, more episodic than tightly-wrapped, can be followed along with some narrative pleasure even it’s a blend of conventional elements.  The only real question is whether the actors can do something with this material, and whether the music is worth it.  Sparkle doesn’t exactly sparks when it comes to its songs: they all skew toward the sultry rather than the rhythmic side of Motown –viewer’s appreciation will vary according to their own tastes.  Fortunately, the film does quite a bit better when it comes to performances: Mike Epps is deliciously evil as the antagonist, while Carmen Ejogo does fine as his main victim.  Jordin Sparks is comparatively duller as the title character (it’s not a challenging role, especially compared to Ejogo’s harsher dramatic arc) but relative newcomer Tika Sumpter gets a little bit more substance as the third sister of the ensemble.  Elsewhere in the cast, Whitney Houston gets one last role as the matriarch-who-learns-better, while Derek Luke is unexpectedly charming as the good guy.  While Sparkle won’t have much of a legacy, it is an acceptable film for those who want just a little bit more of that Motownish magic.