In 1995 people were cheering for a small movie then making waves on video about shiftless lay-abouts and an interesting weekend they have. No, it wasn’t Weekend at Bernie’s 2, it was Ice Cube’s collaboration with director F. Gary Grey on the urban comedy Friday. Now five years later, Next Friday takes off where last Friday was, and thus is now this Friday. Confused? You won’t be as soon as the opening credits hit.

Ice Cube brings everything to the table with his sequel to the surprise 1995 hit original — as chief actor, producer, writer, and even casting assistant. Word. Cube (that’s Mr. Cube to you) lays on the charm and brings together an amusing supporting cast with him to suburbia. Together they wreak havoc and smoke marijuana. The plot has as much substance as a New York City dime bag, but that’s all Cube needs to assemble for himself a vulgar, stupid, but funny picture.

Believe it or not, there are sporadic moments of inspired comedy, but they get lost in a cloud of pot smoke and crassness. The thinly plotted story is stretched to its limit at 93 minutes, leaving room for lots of vulgar humor — but, I did laugh. The shame is that Next Friday relies on tired, if not offensive, stereotypes as sources for comedy.

Next Friday lacks the dumb charm of its predecessor, and Chris Tucker’s motor mouth is missed most, but at its best Next Friday is disposable fun. Something tells me I would’ve enjoyed the movie more if I were stoned while watching. But then again the same probably holds true for all movies.

Nate’s Grade: C