| All About the Benjamins | |
| Director: | Kevin Bray |
| Producer: | Matt Alvarez Ice Cube |
| Starring: | Ice Cube Mike Epps Eva Mendes Tommy Flanagan |
| Cinematography: | Glen MacPherson |
| Editing: | Suzanne Hines |
| Music: | John Murphy |
| Studio: | Cube Vision Productions |
| Distributor: | New Line Cinema |
| Runtime: | 98 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $15 million |
| Gross: | $26 million[1] |
All About the Benjamins is a 2002 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Bray, starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps as a bounty hunter and a con artist who join forces to find a group of diamond thieves: the former for glory, and the latter to retrieve a lost winning lottery ticket. The film was released in theaters in March 2002 to negative reviews. Despite this, the film was a moderate box office hit. The film's title was taken from the popular 1997 hip-hop song performed by Puff Daddy "It's All About the Benjamins".Ice Cube and Mike Epps also starred together in the Friday series and the (2009) film Janky Promoters.
Tyson Bucum is a bounty hunter trying to acquire the funds to start a private investigation firm, and Reggie is a small-time hustler and bail skipper previously apprehended by Bucum three times. Reggie lives with Gina, his trusting girlfriend. One day, Reggie buys a lottery ticket and wins $60 million. However, he spots diamond thieves running away, and he hides in their van. Reggie escapes the thieves but runs into Bucum. The two of them cannot stand each other, but they team up to retrieve Reggie's wallet with the lottery ticket, and to catch the diamond thieves and recover the diamonds.
All About the Benjamins received generally mixed reviews from critics.
Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine wrote that: "[T]he film simultaneously embraces and rejects the dog-whistle vaudeville of Rush Hour and the testosterone overload of Bad Boys, and the result is an absurd, sometimes elegant look at cultural emancipation via the buck."[2] Entertainment Weeklys Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the movie an overall Cā grade, writing that: "I don't know if Cube is melting as he warms up his persona to be all things to all audiences ā tough but tender, rap-real but corporate-ready ā or if Epps' off-spin, discount-Tucker prattle is slowing Cube's game. But something puddles to nothing in this relentless Miami sun."[3] Russell Smith of The Austin Chronicle criticized the film for being "another slice off the increasingly stale buddy-pic loaf" that came after 48 Hrs., highlighting the "random disconnectedness" of the action scenes as "downright insulting" and the nasty violence for coming across as "benignly cartoonish silliness".[4]
See main article: All About the Benjamins (soundtrack). A soundtrack containing hip hop and rhythm and blues music was released on February 19, 2002 by New Line Records. It peaked at #65 on the Billboard 200 and #12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.