Saw Friday, a shaggy dog comedy/drama about a guy who loses his job and must find rent money but, you know, it's Friday and life is hard, so he hangs out with his drug-dealer friend instead. The film is set in a very rough neighborhood which is populated exclusively by caricatures. The protagonist's father is constantly messing up slang, his neighbor is an overly-enunciating guy who wears a smoking jacket for most of the film. His girlfriend looks like Audrey Hepburn and smiles and simpers at his and his friends' rough behavior. In return, they amiably rob her house. It's a fairly amiable film.
His drug-dealer friend is played by Chris Tucker who is his usual hilarious/annoying self. The film is nothing amazing but it's pretty funny and a fairly intimate look at a rough neighborhood. It reminded me of Do the Right Thing, only without the sudden moralizing turn. There's a climax which is pretty serious (although also a bit sexist) but we never exactly get women and children screaming.
I was surprised by how tightly plotted the film was for a stoner film in which two guys basically watch the world go by. There's a sort of cleanness to the proceedings which is very pleasant. The most interesting thing about the film though is the location. They apparently actually did film this thing deep inside of crip territory (to the point that Chris Tucker was told to wear only blue) and at one point two of the locals refused to clear the set, so you can see them in the background, out of focus but in shot. It's a very immediate sense of reality injected into an otherwise cartoonish and jokey film.
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