After hard-living Eminem and 50 Cent struggled to show more sympathetic sides
in “8 Mile” and “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” well-mannered boy-next-door singer
Usher is trying his hand at hooking up with trashy women, hanging out with
mobsters and getting shot a couple of times.
The result, “In the Mix,” may be a good tactical move for the artist’s
career, but it’s a bad movie — which explains why there was no advance
screening for critics. Usher’s fans will enjoy his frequent wardrobe changes
and a couple of scenes where he takes off his shirt, but it’s hard to imagine
how anyone who doesn’t kiss his poster goodnight could get his or her money’s
worth from this film.
The wannabe “Sopranos” story line stars Chazz Palminteri (who else) as a
mob boss who once employed the father of Darrell (Usher). Through a series of
improbable events, Darrell, a popular DJ, ends up working as a bodyguard for
the mobster’s attractive daughter Dolly (Emmanuelle Chriqui).
Before anyone can sing “I Will Always Love You,” they fall for each other,
causing father-daughter-Usher turmoil, which happens to come in the middle of a
major Mafia power struggle.
If “In the Mix” does one thing, it explains Usher’s popularity to those
who haven’t been paying attention to the pop phenomenon. Darrell is really
good-looking, opens doors for the ladies and emits such a powerful sensitivity
pheromone that it’s easy to forgive him for being a player who prefers
one-night stands. Since Dolly is surrounded by a bunch of Italian stereotypes
with poor manners — there’s actually a character called Fat Tony — it’s
easy to see why she would throw herself into Darrell’s arms.
The plot problems start with the writers trying to balance the real-life
singer’s clean-living image with the Mafia world that Darrell joins. While
Usher gets shot twice (seven to go before he catches up with 50 Cent!), he goes
through the entire movie without carrying a gun, and the movie asks his fans to
ignore the ethical ramifications of taking employment with ruthless killers.
The dialogue is mostly terrible and too often seems inserted just to fill
in plot holes and backstory. (”Junior tells me you’re going to be a real
hotshot lawyer!”) No amount of talking can explain the train wreck of an
ending, which looks as if everyone improvised poorly as the cameras rolled.
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While there’s a litter of bad acting performances to choose from in this
film, special attention must be paid to Anthony Fazio as the clownish,
brother-loving mobster’s son who overacts in such spectacular fashion that you
have to wonder if he thought he was filming a McDonald’s commercial.
Come to think of it, the only actors who aren’t distractingly horrible are
Usher, Palminteri and Kevin Hart, who elicits a few laughs as Darrell’s
street-wise sidekick, Busta. The guy who plays Fat Tony isn’t bad either, but
he’s only in the movie for a few minutes.
– Advisory: This film contains adult language, sexual situations and mild
violence. Girlfriends and wives may attempt to get men to see this film by
calling it a gangster movie — but it’s a trap! “In the Mix” is really a
chick flick where only a few people get shot, and even then, they usually get
hit in the shoulder.