The life of a marijuana-smoking package delivery man isn’t playing out like he’d hoped.
The life of a marijuana-smoking package delivery man isn’t playing out like he’d hoped.
In the film, "Next Day Air," Leo Jackson, played by Donald Faison of the television show "Scrubs," still lives at home, just broke up with his girlfriend and his mother is threatening to fire him. To top it all off, he delivered a sensitive package to the wrong address–a move that puts his life in danger.
The package of high-quality cocaine was given to the wrong apartment, occupied by two thieves, Brody (played by actor-comedian Mike Epps) and Guch (played by Chicago native Wood Harris of HBO’s "The Wire").
When the supposed recipients of the drugs, Jesus and Chita (played by newcomers Cisco Reyes and Yasmin Deliz) realize the shipment never arrived, they try to track down Leo before their druglord boss finds out there was a mishap.
The film’s director, noted music video director Benny Boon, said the movie was the perfect foray into him directing films.
“I wanted to do an action story that had comedy in it, and "Next Day Air" was the perfect fit. It’s full of action and we had tremendous fun with it,” Boon said, about directing his first feature film.
Harris, also one of the movie’s producers, said the writing drew him to the role because it had a good rhythm and flow to it. Besides, it was easy to adapt to the film because of its urban nature.
He grew up on the West Side in “KTown … don’t be scared,” Harris said. So the drug-dealing culture wasn’t foreign to him. Plus, he played the role of a drug kingpen in "The Wire."
“I came up around them, so the artistry and the craft is to be able to pull from those experiences. There wasn’t much homework needed to get into this role,” he said.
______
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to our digital or paper edition. For previous editions, contact us for details.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
