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Parents' Guide to

Friday

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Ice Cube's drug- and profanity-filled 'hood cult classic.

Movie R 1995 91 minutes
Friday Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 12+

Based on 8 parent reviews

age 9+

Good movie and very funny, Fine for mature 9-10 year olds

A lot of cursing, a bit of smoking (Smokey smokes a lot and they get high) but not much violence, the characters stare at women’s butts A lot , and that’s about it.

This title has:

Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
age 14+
I think this movie is fine for kids 14 years and up. There is a lot of drug use in this movie but its nothing more than marijuana and your kids probably know what it is. There is some violence but a 14 year old can handle it. Its just that I watched this with my family and my little brother and sister had awkward questions about some of the romance stuff and drug stuff. They are just younger than 14.
1 person found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (27 ):

Directed by F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job), FRIDAY is fairly unique in the history of African-American cinema. Though it depends partly on the usual toilet humor, it does not have the same hyped-up, eager-to-please vibe of most other comedies. It's uncharacteristically laid-back with a refreshing lack of plot mechanics. This, plus the one-day, one-neighborhood setting, allows the characters to flourish in a more organic way. In a way, it's almost on a level with such classics as Charles Burnett's Killer of Sheep (1977) and Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989).

That said, the movie also comes with a troublesome air of misogyny; most of the women characters are seen either as sexual objects or objects of scornful humor. It's also not particularly laugh-out-loud funny, as most of the humor is at the expense of other characters. In general, the overall behavior of the people in this neighborhood is not so great, but there are still glimpses of goodness that make it appealing and worthwhile for older teens.

Movie Details

  • In theaters: April 26, 1995
  • On DVD or streaming: March 2, 1999
  • Cast: Chris Tucker , Ice Cube , Nia Long
  • Director: F. Gary Gray
  • Inclusion Information: Black directors, Black actors, Female actors
  • Studio: New Line
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 91 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: pervasive strong language and drug use, and for a brutal fight
  • Last updated: June 20, 2023

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