Phat Beach | |
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Directed by | Doug Ellin |
Produced by | Cleveland O'Neal III Eric Manes Michael Schultz |
Written by | Ben Morris Brian E. O'Neal Cleveland O'Neal III Doug Ellin |
Starring | |
Music by | Joseph Williams |
Cinematography | Dave Perkal James A. Lebovitz Jürgen Baum |
Edited by | Tucker Stilley Jeremy Kasten Richard Nord |
Distributed by |
Live Entertainment Orion Pictures Corporation |
Release date
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Running time
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88 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1,383,553 |
Phat Beach | |
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Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
Released | August 7, 1996 |
Recorded | 1996 |
Genre | Hip hop, R&B |
Label | TVT |
Producer | E-40, Biz Markie, Def Jef, Chubb Rock, Danny D, Larry Campbell, Smoke One Productions, Vic C., Tigidy Tone |
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Phat Beach is a 1996 American comedy film, written and directed by Doug Ellin, which stars Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins, Coolio , Brian Hooks and Gregg Vance. Made by a group of young independent film lovers, the movie turned out to be considered by many as one of the most successful hip-hop beach movies. The film is now available on Hulu.
During a glorious Southern California summer, high school student Benny King (Hopkins) is doing time flipping burgers. Benny's father wants him to learn the work ethic, rather than have him sit around the house all summer, dreaming and writing. It's not surprising, then, that when his old friend Durrell (Brian Hooks) comes by with a more attractive alternative, Benny jumps at it. When his family goes on vacation, Benny borrows his father's Mercedes and heads on down to the beach with Durrell.At the beach, they meet the "Beastie Boy reject" Mikey Z, a homeboy wannabe, played by actor Gregg Vance (the only white caucasian character in the movie). They have told themselves that they are there to sell beach-goers cheap sunglasses, but they are really there to show off their 'phat' box and attract the finest girls with portable beats on the beach.Comic encounters with the beach girls and a continuous playful banter between Mickey Z and the Durrel-Benny duo form the mainstay of the movie .
The soundtrack album for the film was released on August 7, 1996, through TVT Records and consisted primarily of hip hop and R&B music, with several other genres as well (polka, dubstep). The album reached number 40 on the Top R&B Albums chart.