The Best and Worst of Ice Cube

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "Ride Along 2" star Ice Cube.

Films starring Ice Cube that I've seen:
Boyz n the Hood
Friday
Anaconda
Three Kings
Next Friday
All About the Benjamins
Barbershop
xXx: State of the Union
First Sunday
21 Jump Street
Ride Along
22 Jump Street 

Best Performance: 22 Jump Street (2014)
The role of perpetually pissed-off, vulgar police Captain Dickson was a part Ice Cube was born to play. While Cube was excellent in the first 21 Jump Street movie, he managed to be even better in the sequel. Cube's impeccable comedic timing and delivery allows him to generate the biggest laughs in a film that has no shortage of side-splitting moments.

Worst Performance: Anaconda (1997)
Ice Cube is an actor that knows how to handle over-the-top roles in corny movies (see: xXx: State of Union), but that self-awareness is nowhere to be found in Anaconda. Cube basically just scowls, grunts and beats the crap out of Jon Voight and the titular snake for the duration of this ridiculous film that makes the inexcusable mistake of taking itself too seriously.

Best Film: Friday (1995)
I have a bizarre love of stoner comedies for someone who's never smoked weed and for my money, Friday is one of the best films the genre has ever offered up. The non-stop laughs, vibrant, memorable characters and surprisingly poignant climax make Friday a stone cold classic.

Worst Film: First Sunday (2008)
First Sunday was a film I had completely forgotten about until I was looking over Ice Cube's filmography in preparation for this piece. Once I had been reminded of this film's existence, I suddenly recalled the feeling of disgust and confusion that came over me after I finished watching it. It just doesn't many damn sense that a film headlined by the typically hilarious Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan could be this lazy, unnecessarily preachy and unfunny. Cube and Morgan deserve credit for trying their damnedest to elevate the terrible material they were given, but it's not nearly enough to prevent First Sunday from being one of the most insufferable comedies of the past decade.

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Dirty Grandpa" star Robert De Niro.