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ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS

What You Need To Know:

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS is a mediocre movie about the pursuit of money (the “Benjamins,” as in Ben Franklin’s picture on a bill). Set in Miami, it is the story of a bounty hunter (played by Ice Cube), in pursuit of a bail jumper, which leads them both to an abandoned warehouse. Unknown to either of them, the warehouse is a drop-off point for a major diamond heist. Teaming up, the duo decides to foil the diamond thieves, and at the same time, work out their own personal issues. Working out their issues, however, involves much violence, foul language, racism, and even torture. The special camera effects are irritating and dizzying at times, and the plot is hokey and predictable in many instances.

In a day when our president and our churches are stressing faith and unity, it is sad that movies such as this work so vehemently against that flow with their promotion of racism and division. The humor in the movie is based on foul language, which is simply lazy writing, and the role model examples of even the “good guys” are deplorable. This movie is not recommendable for anyone of any age

Content:

(PaPaPa, PCPC, B, ACap, LLL, VVV, SS, A, DD, MM) Strong pagan, racist, politically correct worldview with African-American sort-of-good-guys out to capture backward, redneck white guys as well as vicious white villains; some biblical, redemptive elements with selfless rescuing of a woman; anti-capitalist message; extreme foul language with more than 300 mostly strong obscenities and profanities; extremely high level of violence including torture scene (though an attempt was made to portray this as humorous); some sexual immorality including veiled, upper-body fornication scene; no nudity, but some cleavage and skimpy bikinis on women; alcohol use; smoking and positive references to marijuana use; and, miscellaneous immorality such as lying, cheating, stealing.

More Detail:

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS is a mediocre movie about the unabashed pursuit of money (the “Benjamins,” as in Ben Franklin’s picture on a bill). Set in Miami, it is the story of a bitter bounty hunter (Ice Cube) in pursuit of a bail jumper (Mike Epps), which leads them both to an abandoned home. Unknown to either of them, the home is a drop-off point for a major diamond heist. Trying to be a “buddy” movie, the two are forced to work together, spending much of their time insulting each other, even fighting. Every “bad guy” in the movie is of European origin, and it is made clear that black men have to try harder to get ahead. Eventually teaming up, the duo decides to foil the diamond thieves and, at the same time, work out their own personal issues.

Working out their issues, however, involves much violence, foul language, racism, deceit, killing, and even torture. Besides all of this, the plot is full of unbelievable coincidences. The filming tries to be too hip with annoying freezes and jump cuts, and the humor depends on insulting, foul put-downs – even to innocent elderly citizens.

In a day when our president and our churches are stressing faith and unity, it is sad that movies such as this work so vehemently against that flow with their promotion of racism and division. The humor in the movie is based on foul language, which is simply lazy writing, and the role model examples of even the “good guys” are deplorable. I was sickened to see children in the audience, as this movie is not recommendable for anyone of any age.