Who's the Man?


Who's the Man? is a 1993 thriller buddy comedy film directed by Ted Demme in his feature film directing debut. The film stars Yo! MTV Raps hosts Doctor Dré and Ed Lover alongside Ice-T and features cameo appearances from some of the top rap/hip-hop acts of the time.

Plot

Doctor Dré and Ed Lover are two bumbling barbers at a Harlem barbershop. Knowing full well that cutting hair is not their calling, their boss, friend, and mentor Nick tells the two maybe they should try out for the police academy. They refuse at first, but Nick threatens them with unemployment. Crazily enough, it works out for the two, and they are accepted on the New York City police force. Things seem to be going well for them, when tragedy suddenly strikes, and they lose Nick and the barbershop. Now enforcers of the law, the team decides to investigate the incident, which they believe to be a murder.
Ed and Dre find out through the streets that a crooked land developer named Demetrius might have had something to do with their friend's death, and proceed to attempt to dig up as much dirt on him as possible. This proves to be difficult, however, when they've got an angry Sergeant, a moody detective, and a bunch of unwilling street hoods to go through to get the information they need. Though there aren't any certain clues to be found, strange happenings are certainly going on, as the cops found out that Demetrius' company seems to be looking for oil rather than looking for property.
With their superiors not believing Ed and Dre's story and getting themselves in trouble, they end up being suspended. However, they get a lead to a warehouse where they find a lot of guns. They have enough evidence to arrest Demetrius, but Demetrius didn't kill Nick. It was revealed that Nick's friend, Lionel, who was working for Demetrius had murdered him because Nick refused to sell his shop. Ed and Dre have Lionel arrested.
Ed and Dre are offered their jobs back, but decided to quit, stating it's too violent for them. When they return to their old barbershop they discover oil coming from the floor. Soon after, they're back in business re-opening the place giving customers bad haircuts.

Cast

Cameo appearances

Production

Doctor Dré and Ed Lover personally requested Ted Demme direct the film as Love and Demme had been friends since school and had a good working relationship with him on the show Yo! MTV Raps. Demme secured other prominent hip-hop artist for roles in the film who agreed to work for scale as a favor to Demme. Demme credited his time on MTV with the production going as smoothly as it did as the network gave him plenty of opportunities to experiment as well as making industry connections.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 56% based on reviews from 9 critics.
Roger Ebert gives a favorable review, with a score of 3 stars out of 4.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on April 20, 1993, through MCA Records. It peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200 and #8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.