In the Mix (2005)

R&B sensation Usher stars as a popular DJ Darrell who saves the life of a young woman (Emmanuelle Chriqui) who turns out to be the daughter of a high-ranking mobster (Chazz Palminteri). When the mobster decides that Darrell could be put to good use the hapless DJ gets sucked into the crime underworld. R&B star Usher makes an assured screen debut in this mix of mob movie and romantic comedy. Chazz Palminenteri co-stars as the friendly don who recruits family friend Darrell (Usher) to play bodyguard for his daughter Dolly (Emmanuelle Chiriqi). She and Darrell have been friends since they were kids but the seven years since they last saw each other have changed things. She's grown into a headstrong young law student with a yen for yoga and a smug yuppie boyfriend (Geoff Stults); he's grown into an ultra-smooth chick magnet with dreams of starting his own record company. They're destined for each other but there's not only the racial issue in their way--someone's trying to take over the family business via treachery and bullets and Darrell's right in the thick of things. When the interracial romance isn't heating up the screen there's plenty of raucous comedy supplied by Anthony Fazio as Dolly's pseudo-gangsta younger brother Kevin Hart as Darrell's loudmouthed co-DJ and a bulldog with an unfortunate digestion problem. Director Ron Underwood takes his time going around the more edgy turns in the script giving the actors room to stretch out and get comfortable in their characters and surroundings and helping the film transcend its more formulaic elements (it's an obvious nod to the 1992 Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner chestnut THE BODYGUARD). Best of all Usher proves his game extends to the big screen where he displays plenty of debonair warmth and easygoing charm.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 031398191209 Manufacturer No: 19120 Product Description

 Color shift from Shaft?
Who is that girl? The black guy thinks she's to die for?!
Funky has turned and the club is still there, but
Gang Banger, now, means black or Mexican.
And they are meaner than you can believe?
The MOB still is scary, but not like the black scene.
So a girl who is in a law degree might look to
keep her family current by pulling in a black guy.
One with guts and a good ear too?
Old guys get slow and young guys are
in the know...
April 30, 2008

 I LIKED IT
Okay I think part of the reason it received a five is because I am quite partial to all the actors and actresses in the film I enjoy seeing them all act especially Usher. I've always been a huge fan of his from music to his acting therefore I guess no one will take my review serious because of how I feel for the actors and actress. Can we say its the bomb....
May 14, 2007

 good movie
i like this movie that he is in. i had to wait for the cost to go down for a year and i finally had got it. i think that if you are a big usher fan that you will have to see this movie. you will love it for sure. November 29, 2006

 In the Mix
I would say this is a typically so called teenager film. It is a very simple story with out any deep meaning or teaching. This film is just for enterntainment.... But again if you are a huge usher fan you need this dvd in your collection :-) November 6, 2006

 Up Until the Action Scene
I have heard people dog this movie as bad as they dog all of Nick Cannon's movies (minus "Drumline") but I'm hardheaded and open-minded, so I gave it a chance. Before I get into my review, let me clarify a few things.
#1 Someone did have sex in this movie, but the camera just didn't show it.
#2 As much as kids curse these days, I do not see the big deal with him saying the f-word.
#3 I can watch MTV for two minutes and see a butt--big deal if it was in this movie.
#4 Whoever said the white guy trying to be hip was the worst was dead-on; that had to be the most annoying thing about this movie...and unnecessary. Nothing about his character made him need to act that way. I guess the writers thought it'd be funny, but it would've been much more realistic if the brother was believeable and just odd against the family, than corny and odd to EVERYBODY.

Now my own response to the movie--Cons: If I took a disposable camera and took photos of a fight, it would've been more exciting than these action scenes. As soon as they started with the guns, that brought so little blood, I shook my head. The white brother who wanted to be from the hood annoyed me to no end. Even the purpose he served towards the end of the movie could've easily been done by another character. The characters CONTINUOUSLY brought up race. "Italian people put red sauce on their macaroni." "Why do I only get shot by white people?" "Giving Benjamins is an Italian tradition." "I heard black men can dance." I mean seriously, the only people who talk like this are people who have not been around other cultures for extended periods of time. The daughter and Usher's character supposedly grew up together, but they're talking to each other like they just met in a club a couple weeks ago. The killer was EXTREMELY predictable--and so were all the set-ups. Why is the only black woman in this movie a golddigger, a ho, and dense? Who in the world jumps into the pool with their jeans on, when they have on boxers underneath, and jumps out the pool all light and fluffy, like those jeans don't weigh a ton? What unarmed men do you know that walk right up on somebody with a gun and snatch it?

Pros: Usher's acting has improved dramatically since the movie he did where he got locked in a school. He's not too over the top in the comedic scenes, not overly Don Juan for the romantic scenes, and I believed in his character. The beginning to middle part of the movie was pretty good, but once the story started to "unfold," it got REAL amateurish. The comedian from "Soul Plane" was goofy as usual, and I like that dude.

Other than those few pros, overall, I'd say this movie needed to erase ALL of the scenes after Usher went on the double date, and try again. August 24, 2006

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