User Reviews

It must seem like I try to find awful films to review. Honestly, I really do not. Unfortunately, I decided to watch The Trap. Where to start, where to start. I am writing this as I watch the film because there is no other way I could finish watching it otherwise. The film is only twenty minutes in. I may finish writing the review before the film ends. So far the film is, to this point, an abomination. Starring Tip 'T.I' Harris and Mike Epps as brothers, Sonny and Dutch. I should have known this would not be a good film as soon as I heard the voiceover. Voiceover is rarely a good sign. Sonny, the younger brother, moved away from the family home and has worked his way up in the restaurant business and is a respected chef. He returns home to see his mother, Mama Jay (Loretta Devine) and finds out she is sick. Whilst back in town he sees that the family chicken shop, Blazin' Jay's, has fallen into disrepair under the stewardship of his brother, Dutch - or Mike Epps being Mike Epps. Whilst arguing with his brother, the mother collapses and is rushed to hospital. In the hospital they are told by Dr. Obayuwana (Queen Latifah) that their mother needs an operation and is dying. They must raise one hundred thousand dollars. T. I. better known as a rapper, has taken the well worn path to the screen boy many a 90's and 00's rapper. LL Cool J, P Diddy, Eminen, Common and even, if you can call it acting, 50 cent. To varying degrees, all have been successful. LL Cool J is not even thought of as a rapper anymore. T. I. will not be following LL. On this evidence there is no hope. He is not an actor and this film proves it. He is terrible. Wooden and not at all convincing as a chef, brother or even a lover. He is next level awful. The man wrecks every scene he is in and he is, as the star of the film, in almost every scene. I have not seen a rapper this bad in a film since RZA made the diabolically awful The Man With The Iron Fist. As for Mike Epps, he is Mike Epps. I pretty sure that was all the direction he was given - Be Mike Epps. The story, such that is, sees Dutch get involved with the local drug lord, K. P. (Stephen Bishop) and agree to move a couple pounds of weed every week. When the police unexpectedly burst into the chicken shop to stop a fight, Dutch accidentally stumbles upon a new way to help the family business, when the weed falls into the fryer, creating the 'secret' ingredient in the chicken, that proves spectacularly popular. With their mothers's health issues, the brothers decide to carry on using the weed in the chicken, even though Sonny is reluctant to. When K.P. finds out that they have been putting weed in the chicken, he decides that the chicken shop would make a great front for his business and also be good for laundering the money. Sonny, who is involved with a local policewoman he has known since his youth, Sasha (Meagan Tandy), wants to get out of the deal Dutch has gotten them in to. K. P. does not care what Sonny wants and threatens to harm their sick mother. Sasha happens upon them all when passing the chicken shop and sees K. P. and his henchmen pointing guns at the brothers. There is a shootout and then the police sweep in and arrest K. P. Their mother gets her operation and is fine, the business flourishes and everyone lives happily ever after. The end. Everyone that is except me. What an unholy amount of tripe this film is. To say it was awful is an insult to the word 'awful'! There needs to be more adjectives to describe just how bad this film is. With T. I. and Epps taking the lead, it falls to the supporting cast to display anything resembling credible acting. Uphill does not even begin to describe how herculean a task bringing any sort of life to the script is. The film is credited as having four writers. There is no way all four found this dross funny. Directed - ha! - by Erik White, I can only think he turned on the cameras, made sure they were in focus and then went off to his real job. No one is directed in this film, except maybe to their marks. I do not expect a masterwork when watching a comedy. All I ask is that it makes me laugh. That is the minimum requirement. Not everyone finds the same things funny, I get that, but this film would not be amusing even if one was drunk or high. If you are going to sell your film as a comedy, put some funny in it. The Trap is not funny. With the exception of the two leads, the acting is not too bad. Stephen Bishop K. P. is a scary villain and Joel Rush as Sasha's jealous and duplicitous partner, Powers, is good. Even Teyana Taylor as Sherri, Dutch's uncouth, street rough girlfriend is good. That is about it though. This is ninety minutes of your life you do not want to devote to this particular piece on Netflix. Avoid. You are welcome.

What I liked: T.I is such a cool guy. Thats about it.

What I disliked:

• Its so abnormal and wired. The acting was strange and some of the scenes were just rubbish.
• T.I walking on his mum doing adult cam videos and then acting as if everything was normal 20 seconds later. .....what the hell!?!?

• The amount of racist hypocrisy against white people and black people were not portrayed in a good way.

• Feeding drugs to kids!??

• The police women didn't act like a police women more like a teenager flirting with another teenager. She also compared the Queen of England to a bunch of dudes with grills.....

I swear Hollywood has gone downhill in movie acting these days. Its turned into a joke. Sorry T.I you're a cool guy and all but this movie was wired. I gotta say though the only thing that made sense in this movie is the New York times journalist using abuse of power over people at the start of the movie. Thats about it.

The good: T.I is just a cool as guy. I liked his acting. Some funny moments.

The bad:

• T.I walked on his mum doing adult cam. Then they acted like it was just another normal day of mum and son dancing. What the hell man?

• The amount of racist hypocrisy against white people is just stupid and they even portrayed black people in a bad way. Women dressed and acted like prostitutes and the men were low life drug dealers. Not just that, where were the other racial groups of people???

• Selling drugs to kids....
• The police women acted more like a flirting teenager than a police women and then she compared the Queen of England to a bunch of dudes with grills.
• Some of the actors were just cussing and cussing and talking loud and being annoying. (Im sure they are lovely people in person) but on the movie set, it was pretty annoying to watch.

Well thats it I guess. The only thing in this movie that made sense was the New York times reporter using abuse of power over people to get what he wants at the start of the movie..