If nothing else, "All about the Benjamins" definitely lives up to its title. It seems that New Line Cinema was pursuing the same thing as the film's main characters - grabbing a whole lot of cash for as little effort as possible. While viewers enjoy surprisingly excellent efforts by Mike Epps and Ice Cube, the film's plot bears quite a resemblance to every other action-adventure ever made.
Full of violence and foul language, "Benjamins" gives us lots of eye candy and slapped-together action sequences. Ice Cube and Epps try to pull the story along with a straight-man/funny-man buddy routine. Alas, the story is just too weak.
"Benjamins" begins by showing us Bucum Jackson (Ice Cube), a bounty hunter who always encounters hostility when he goes after people to bring them to justice. This continually sloppy work casts him into some sort of lower realm (either unfortunately or not). By the way, Anthony Michael Hall (beloved member of the '80s Brat Pack) shows up in the opening scene - I totally missed him.
Introduce Reggie Wright (Epps), a con man who always finds a way to get locked up. Reggie is running his mouth constantly, so much so that it's a wonder none of the characters shoot him out of mere annoyance. Bucum's boss has told him that he must go after Reggie and bring him in. But by the time Bucum finds his man, Reggie's girlfriend has won the lottery (Hollywood predictable?).
In an unfortunate turn of events, Reggie loses the winning ticket while chased by Bucum. Stupidly (of course, this is an action film) he chooses to hide in the back of a van owned by diamond thieves, leaving his wallet behind for them to find. So the audience watches Bucum and Reggie chase after said ticket, diamonds and cold hard cash.
At this point, you must have realized that this picture is not intelligent. Our main characters start out as simple, believable characters, but over time, they turn into a couple of thugs. Bucum and Reggie are not supposed to be partners (one was, after all, chasing the other), but once there is money involved (albeit illegal money), they must join forces. Any actions become secret. They cannot tell anyone about the situations they get into. Were the police to catch on, our heroes would turn into criminals themselves.
Though the film grants Ice Cube and Epps round, interesting characters, they begin to do things that are rather extraordinary in quest of the money. In one scene, the two recent buddies torture one of the main villains for information. Such a scene would make sense, even in the context of a comedy, but not while Bucum and Reggie are making fun of the villain as if this were something they do all the time.
Such lack in realism brings me to the point of a racial subtext in the film. I'm not one to play the race card, but if there is a racist African-American watching this film, it won't exactly help him develop a broader perspective.
Our (white) villains start off as clever crooks, but when they run into the main characters, they turn into bumbling buffoons. Here, the white characters have stupid accents, one-dimensional hateful personas and no security guards at their million-dollar place. They get tied up, tortured, made fun of and thrown in car trunks.
I won't say, "In real life, that would never happen," because in real life, the whole plot reeks of absurdity. How can it be economically beneficial to make whites look ridiculous? Producers, directors, screenwriters and whoever don't have to make them look "smart" per se, but wouldn't it be most economically beneficial to just make them realistic?
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The plot contains more than a few holes. The main characters are at gunpoint and yet escape far more times than the requisite number for an action-adventure picture. (I think my limit is two.) The female leads manage to knock two lackeys into the water by hitting them with a Sea Doo.
Eva Mendes and Valarie Rae Miller play the female leads, Gina and Pam respectively. Pam only appears a couple of times to remind Bucum that she has his back, which really means that she wants him (of course action-adventure also means sex in today's world).
Gina, however, has an important role in the plot as Reggie's girlfriend. The criminals kidnap her (of course), so Bucum and Reggie must arrange a trade for her (of course). The trade doesn't quite work out perfectly (of course), so once the heroes escape with their lives, they risk them again in order to get the diamonds and the ticket (of course).
"All About the Benjamins" entertains us with improbable stunts, action film cliches and hilarious one-liners. But the script, which Ronald Lang and Ice Cube collaborated on, lacks originality and believability. If I were you, I'd save your Benjamins for another movie.
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