Whos the Man
5.6 /10 1 Votes
Director Ted Demme Duration Language English | 5.4/10 IMDb Genre Comedy, Drama, Mystery Country United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date April 23, 1993 Writer Doctor Dre (story), Ed Lover (story), Seth Greenland (story), Seth Greenland (screenplay) Production companies New Line Cinema, de Passe Entertainment Genres Comedy, Action Film, Action/Adventure Cast Doctor Dré (Doctor Dre), Ed Lover (Ed Lover), Denis Leary (Sgt. Cooper), Cheryl 'Salt' James (Teesha Braxton), Ice-T (Chauncey "Nighttrain" Jackson), Andre B. Blake (Lamar)Similar movies Ice-T appears in Whos the Man? and New Jack City Tagline The First Hip-Hop Whodunnit! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ed Lover (Ed Lover) and Doctor Dre (Andre Young) are hapless New York City barbers who test the patience of their boss, Nick Crawford (Jim Moody), one too many times and end up at a police academy to try out careers in law enforcement. Training under the tough-as-nails Sergeant Cooper (Denis Leary), Ed and Dre eventually learn enough skills to become rookie cops. For their first major assignment, they attempt to thwart a corrupt businessman at odds with Nick over property development.
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Whos the Man? is a 1993 thriller comedy film, directed by Ted Demme, in his feature film directing debut. The film stars Yo! MTV Raps hosts Doctor Dre and Ed Lover as its two main protagonists., it features dozens of cameo appearances from some of the top rap/hip-hop acts of the time, including (though not limited to) Busta Rhymes, Bushwick Bill, Guru, Eric B., House of Pain, Ice-T, Kris Kross, Queen Latifah, KRS-One and Run-D.M.C.. This film is also the feature film debut of Terrence Howard.
Ed Lover and Doctor Dre are two inept barbers. Deciding that maybe they ought to find another line of work, they join the police. A big mistake, as far as their duty sergeant, Sgt Cooper is concerned, who proceeds to harass them at every turn. Despite this, they discover a major crime, and proceed to solve it in their own unusual fashion.
Plot
Doctor Dre and Ed Lover are two bumbling barbers at a Harlem barbershop. Knowing full well that cutting hair is not their calling, their boss, friend, and mentor Nick (Jim Moody) tells the two maybe they should try out for the police academy. Crazily enough, it works out for the two, and they are accepted on the New York City police force. Things seem to be going well for them, when tragedy suddenly strikes, and they lose Nick. Now enforcers of the law, the tag team decides to investigate the incident, which they believe to be a murder.
Ed and Dre find out through the streets that a crooked land developer named Demetrius (Richard Bright) might have had something to do with their friends death, and proceed to attempt to dig up as much dirt on him as possible. This proves to be difficult, however, when theyve got a nutty Sergeant (Denis Leary), a moody detective (Rozwill Young), and a bunch of unwilling street hoods (Guru, Ice-T) to go through to get the information they need. Though there arent any certain clues to be found, strange happenings are certainly going on, as Demetrius company seems to be digging for something rather than looking to build on all the property hes buying up in their Harlem neighborhood, and the bodies slowly continue to pile up around them.
Tagline: The first hip-hop whodunnit!
Cast
Cameo appearances:
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 43% based on reviews from 7 critics.
Roger Ebert gives a favorable review, with a score of 3 stars out of 4.
Similar Movies
Ice-T appears in Whos the Man? and New Jack City. Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970). Bernie Mac appears in Whos the Man? and Life. Nothing to Lose (1997). Doctor Dre appears in Whos the Man? and Juice.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on April 20, 1993 through MCA Records. It peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
References
Whos the Man? WikipediaWhos the Man? IMDb Whos the Man? themoviedb.org