Who's The Man

There's been a lot of great comedy teams in cinema. Abbott And Costello, Laurel And Hardy, Cheech And Chong, Belushi And Aykroyd, Dre And Lover. Ok, maybe the last pair isn't that well remmebered, but they should be. Case in point, their one starring vehicle, 1993's Who's The Man.

Doctor Dre, not the rapper, and Ed Lover, the hosts of Yo! MTV Raps show off their comedy and acting chops in this hip hop whodunit. They play two of the worst barbers in Harlem. Their boss and father figure Nick, Jim Moody, tells them that maybe the police academy might be a better fit and enrolls them. They hate it at first, but when Nick is murdered, the boys put their new skills to test to find the killer. In the process, they discover that they have a real knack for law enforcement.

This was the first feature for the late, great Ted Demme. A lot of people wrote it off as an MTV or rap movie, which is easy to do since most of the supporting cast is made up of rap artists and MTV performers. But I think Demme shows a lot of talent and this film is just as good as his later efforts The Ref, Beautiful Girls, Life, and Blow.

Dre and Lover had the makings of a great comedy team, and I think if this was a bigger hit, that could have easily happened. The two were planning on doing a remake of Abbott And Costello's Buck Privates, but when this tanked at the box office, Buck Privates fell by the wayside. I also have to mention Dennis Leary, who is hysterical as their frusterated Sergeant.

This is a very funny flick and I would love to see Dre and Lover together again on the big screen.

It's available on dvd.