Tagline: Everyone wants a piece of his action.
In the Mix movie storyline. Hoping to safeguard his daughter, a mafia don assigns his loyal right-hand man, Darrell, to act as his daughter’s bodyguard. Little does he realize that his daughter and Darrell have been sweet on each other for a long time, and now, things are really going to heat up. When New York’s hottest nightclub deejay Darrell (Usher) saves a mob boss’s life (Chazz Palminteri), he is rewarded for his bravery with the responsibilty of watching over the don’s beautiful daughter Dolly (Emmanuelle Chriqui). The sparks soon begin to fly between this attractive couple from very different worlds, against her formidable father’s wishes.
Meanwhile, the don has other things on his mind—quashing a potential war with an arch-rival and controlling a young, ruthless challenger to his throne. In the end, all’s fair in love and gangster warfare in this hip, romantic comedy, In The Mix.
In this romantic comedy, Usher stars as Darrell Williams, a deejay extraordinaire who has a dream to start his own record company/studio alongside best friend, Busta (Kevin Hart). One night at their local dance club, Darrell is visited by his childhood friend Frankie Jr. (Anthony Fazio), hip-hop wannabe and son of the mighty mobster, ‘Don’ Frank Pacelli (Chazz Palminteri). Frankie Jr. asks Darrell to DJ at a special surprise ‘coming home’ party for his sister, Dolly.
Beautiful and talented newcomer Emmanuelle Chriqui plays Dolly Pacelli, a bright and vivacious law student, home for the summer holiday. She is definitely daddy’s girl and the ‘Don’ wants the party to be a special occasion. The night of the party, close family and friends gather at the family restaurant. Darrell is there, at the turntables, where the two catch one another’s eye for the first time since childhood.
Darrell’s deceased father used to work the restaurant bar and was close to Frank. There’s history between Darrell and Dolly, perhaps never fully explored, but times have moved on. Dolly is accompanied by Chad (Geoff Stults), the perfect rich-boy whose father runs a law firm and to whom she is engaged to be married. The party is in full swing, father and daughter share a special dance to an old classic tune. Suddenly, however, things turn sour when a roaming car opens fire at the windows. Darrell leaps to save Frank from the gun-fire but not before he takes a bullet to his shoulder.
Recuperating, Darrell is tended to by Dolly, grateful for his heroism. Meanwhile, Frank plots revenge and arranges a meeting with rival mob boss, Salvatore Vincenzo (Nick Mancuso), to scope out whether he gave the order for the hit. Salvatore claims innocence while his upstart second-in-command, Angelo (Chris Tardio), claims that if it had been them, Frank would already be dead. Unsure who was behind the hit, Frank decides that it is unsafe for Dolly to go anywhere without a bodyguard. Dolly refuses because the hired help he has in mind – Fat Tony (Robert Costanzo), Fish (Robert Davi) and especially Jackie (Matt Gerald) – all unnerve her. However, Frank persists and Dolly agrees on the condition that Darrell is her bodyguard.
Darrell agrees but is shocked to hear that Dolly has other plans. She chose him because, as a friend, she thinks he would leave her alone to do her thing. He stubbornly refuses and accompanies her everywhere. Now Darrell finds himself far removed from the clubs of the ‘hood. He enters into a world of day spas, 6 AM yoga classes and lunch with the girls. Ultimately, Dolly is surprised at how quickly he adapts but is downright miffed when Darrell gains all the attention from her gal pals.
Darrell shows her his world too and introduces his neighbors, 10 year old Lexi (Isis Faust), a girl who’s always disapproving of Darrell’s past girlfriends and Big Momma (Jennifer Echols), Lexi’s guardian.
Unbeknownst to both Darrell and Dolly, Frank has told Jackie to follow – just for extra protection. On one occasion, they are nearly run over by a mysterious car but Dolly doesn’t want to tell Frank for fear that he will be scared into providing even more security. Darrell is unsure but reluctantly agrees. However, the Don gets wind of it through Jackie.
Meanwhile, Darrell and Dolly start to rekindle the close friendship they once had, wondering if there isn’t more to it. One evening, Darrell joins Dolly during one of her nightly swims in the family swimming pool. A romantic moment that nearly leads to a kiss seems wrong because she’s engaged. The more time Dolly spends with Darrell, the more she begins to realize that she doesn’t really love Chad and, in fact, hates the idea that if they marry, she will have to join his father’s law firm.
After another dull, predictable night with Chad, Dolly allows Darrell to take her to the Liquid Lounge where they share a great night. A slow number comes on and the two get close, feeling their passions for the first time. Suddenly, Jackie enters, wielding a gun, and breaks the couple up. They manage to escape but know her father will find out.
Dolly knows she has to speak to her father before Jackie does but can’t quite muster the courage, so she takes off to the spa with Darrell in tow. Jackie tells Frank of the club incident and, of course, the Don is furious and feels betrayed because they went behind his back. With the boys in tow, Frank goes to confront them at the Spa. They bust in, grab Darrell and take him outside to the car. Frank confronts Dolly and orders her to break off whatever romance is budding, fearing that she will not be given the life that Chad could bring her. She reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, outside, the boys are stunned to see that a very dead Salvatore is in their trunk! They quickly dump Darrell back at his apartment to deal with this new situation, fearing they have been set up.
At Salvatore’s funeral, Angelo and Jackie secretly meet. It is revealed that Angelo has murdered Salvatore and it looks like these two upstarts are in cahoots to kill their respective bosses and take over the clans. Now it’s up to Jackie to kill Frank and fulfill his part of the bargain. Meanwhile, Darrell is at home fending off the unwanted attentions of another woman, Cherise. Dolly arrives to see them in a compromising position and storms out before he can explain. Suddenly, there is another knock at the door – it’s Angelo.
Jackie has a plan. He calls Frank to say Darrell has gone nuts and that unable to take rejection, Darrell is holding Dolly inside the club and won’t let her go. Frank and Frankie Jr. race to the club only to find it empty except for a bound-and-gagged Darrell and Dolly. It’s a trap! Frank finds himself surrounding by gun-toting Angelo and Jackie. They tell him of their plan to take over. They initially wanted to start a gang-war but the old guys went soft so they had to take things into their own hands. Jackie plans to shoot them all, frame Darrell, then claim it was Frank’s dying wish for him to take over.
In what seems to be their dying moments, Darrell and Dolly finally declare their true love for one another. Darrell explains the confusion with Cherise. Frank sees the truth in this and realizes that his stubbornness has helped get them in this situation. Suddenly, the club comes to life, numerous strobe lights flash and the smoke machine comes on — Busta to the rescue! In the confusion, Frank grabs the guns and both Jackie and Angelo are laid out cold with the help of Frankie Jr. and Cherise.
One year later, it’s Darrell and Dolly’s lavish wedding reception held at the Pacelli compound. It’s a vibrant mixture of both lifestyles. Everybody is happy; Chad and Cherise are also there, newly in love! Father and daughter take to the dance floor, dancing to an old time classic again – this time with a hip-hop remix. Finally, Darrell and Dolly join up to dance and the two kiss.
In the Mix (2005)
Directed by: Ron Underwood
Starring: Usher, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Chazz Palminteri, Anthony Fazio, Matt Gerald, Jennifer Echols, Page Kennedy, Misti Traya, Robert Costanzo, Geoff Stults
Screenplay by: Chanel Capra, Cara Dellaverson, Brian Rubenstein
Production Design by: Cynthia Kay Charette
Cinematography by: Clark Mathis
Film Editing by: Don Brochu
Costume Design by: Ha Nguyen
Set Decoration by: Ron Franco
Music by: Aaron Zigman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, violence and language.
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Release Date: November 23, 2005
Views: 83
