It can’t figure out how to begin or end, but for the 80 or so
minutes in between, Next Day Air is an underestimated genre
surprise. The feature debut of hip-hop video director Benny Boom is
smarter and funnier about human nature than The Pineapple Express, the
Friday sequels and most Guy Ritchie crime sagas (its most obvious
points of comparison). Observant and never preachy, the dialogue is
actually worth listening to: Nearly every scene is a play on the
perception that the accumulation of wealth will bring social validation
and self-worth. Boom doesn’t stage his story—a series of mix-ups
after an eternally stoned UPS driver (Scrubs’ Donald Faison) mistakenly
delivers 10 bricks of cocaine to two amateur criminals (Mike Epps, Wood
Harris)—in very arresting images. But he streamlines them with an
energy that propels urban anxiety into screwball comedy.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.