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| Special Features: |
Widescreen anamorphic format.
Chapter selection.
Animated menu.
Cast and crew interviews.
Trailers.
Coverage of the premiere in Hollywood.
CD soundtrack.
"Bad Intentions" music video. |
| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish.
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| Captions: |
No
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| Casing: |
2-Disc Keep Case
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Dee Loc (Snoop Dogg) and Sean (Dr. Dre) are roommates about to be evicted from their apartment. Sean is unemployed. Dee Loc tells him to come down to the car wash and get a job with him. Dee Loc is tired of paying all the rent. Dee Loc actually pays his half of the bills by selling weed. Sean is the clean cut one of the pair. He impresses the owner of the car wash, Mr. Washington (George Wallace) enough to become the assistant manager. Sean must now crack down on Dee Loc for stealing, dealing and generally goofing off on company time. Sean must also hide the fact that he works at the wash from the foxy and sophisticated lady he just started seeing. Rounding all of this off is a sub-plot about the owner being threatened and eventually kidnapped by unknown and stupid thugs.
"The Wash" was written and directed by DJ Pooh, the writer of the very funny "Friday." Because of the quality of "Friday" I was profoundly disappointed with the lack of consistent humor in "The Wash." Granted, I'm an over 40 white guy and am not the obvious target audience for this movie. However, a good movie is a good movie, no matter the target audience. The opposite is also true. "The Wash" takes elements from several 70s comedy hits like "Car Wash," "Animal House" and "Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke" and bleaches out a majority of the wit, timing and originality that helps those movies still generate laughs 25 years later.
The problems with this movie must be laid completely at the feet of writer/director DJ Pooh. The performances are generally quite good. Dr. Dre has a screen presence which lets the viewer know that he has a lot going on beneath the surface. He comes across as a very good leading man. He obviously has a future in romantic comedy. Snoop Dog has already made his bones on the big screen. Here, he comes across as the likable, but somewhat menacing doofus dope-smoker. There is a scene early on in which the guys are partying with their ladies in their crib. Snoop does a funky dance step which gets a laugh. The supporting cast is also pretty good with the exception of veteran comedian George Wallace. I'm familiar with Wallace's comedy career. "The Wash" seems to go against everything Mr. Wallace has stood for in the past. He looks uncomfortable in the role. Even DJ Pooh has a likable screen presence.
I wish DJ Pooh had taken a little more time to work on the comedic possibilities of his script, because the movie had potential. Instead, he seems to have decided to throw in the words Mother F**ker any time he couldn't come up with a good punch line. There are a lot of MFs in the movie. His direction is good though. The film moves at a brisk pace and there are no continuity problems. If DJ Pooh can get back to his "Friday" magic he could quite possibly want to reunite with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The two actors work well together. It would be cool if the three of them made a series of films ALA the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedies of the 70s.
There are a boat load of cameos in this movie. Tommy Chong plays a dope dealer. (That's a dramatic stretch!) Pauly Shore plays a Mafia victim. Shaq is there. In another dramatic stretch, Eminem plays a psychotic ex-employee. Hip Hop stars Ludacris and Xzibit are also on hand. Better luck next time guys. I hope there is a next time for Dre, Dogg and Pooh. Next time bring along a better script.
Passible movie. Fair picture. Good sound. Not bad extras. Fans will get it. None fans beware.
Picture Quality: 7/10
The picture is hit or miss, but the fault lies with the original source material rather than the transfer. "The Wash" captures the look of many of the low budget comedies of the 70s which it tries to pays homage to. It has a gritty look that is appropriate for the material. There were no artifacts or pixilation apparent.
Sound Quality: 10/10
The sound is very good. I'm not a Hip Hop fan, (remember, I'm an old white fart!)but I will say the music rattled the windows with the home theater system cranked up.
Menu: 10/10
Cool menu. The quirky music and day-glo colors seem to be designed to keep dope smokers too zonked out of their minds to care, happy as they sit in front of the TV for an hour waiting for the movie to start playing. Easy to navigate.
Extra Features: 7/10
There are interviews with the several cast members and director Pooh which last about three questions each.
The premiere coverage also consists of interviews with the cast and crew.
The trailer is funnier than the movie itself.
The "Bad Intentions" music video by Dr. Dre and Knoc-Turn'al is the most offensive song I've heard in a long time. Regular readers know that I'm no prude, but if this song is evidence of how the Hip Hop community views women they need their collective mouths washed out with soap. I wonder if these guys would play this song with their Moms, Sisters or Daughters in the room. Probably so. Oh well.
The screener I received did not include the CD soundtrack, so I can't comment on it's quality. The soundtrack includes music by Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, Xzibit, D12, Bubba Sparxxx and others.
The Final Word:
Fans of the cast and crew will eat this up. All others beware.
Rusty White
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