Another week, another action comedy movie made specifically for a streaming service. While the action comedy would seem like an easy enough thing to get right, the many lesser examples that have appeared over the past few years prove just how hard it can be. Playdate is another one that doesn't work. In fact, I would say it's almost a complete failure, with very few decent laughs and not enough competent action.
Kevin James plays Brian, stepfather to Lucas (Benjamin Pajak). Trying the usual father-son bonding activities that he knows, which seems to amount to playing catch and trying to present himself as some kind of shining example of manly strenth and reliability, Brian finds himself slightly at a loss as Lucas prefers more artistic activities, such as choreographed dance routines. While at a local park, Brian and Lucas encounter Jeff (Alan Ritchson) and his son, CJ (Banks Pierce). They seem to be the exact opposites of Brian and Lucas, but Jeff immediately claims Brian as a new BFF, which leads to all four of our main characters dragged into a situation that involves a secret science facility, a load of mercs, and one or two completely unsurprising revelations about Jeff and CJ.
This is easily the worst film that I've seen from director Luke Greenfield, and that is saying something, especially when you consider that his first feature was The Animal. As has happened many times before, he's a director who has too much faith in his writer, Neil Goldman, and his leads. Goldman, having done some great work on TV shows over the years, completely misses the mark here, although I have to wonder if he was trying to craft something around two stars who just weren't a good fit for this.
James does what James usually does, which makes him the less problematic of the two leads. It's Ritchson who never feels quite right in his role, forced to make his character silly and over the top in a way that drags down the whole film. Obviously aiming to emulate the kind of mismatched pairing that worked so well for the likes of Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, especially with the latter being quirky and daft in Central Intelligence, nobody seems to have figured out that you need to find a way to still show some heart and humanity if you want viewers to root for your leads. Both Pajak and Pierce are much better, enjoyably contrasting against one another, but also managing to become fast friends in a way that is believable and sweet, just because of them being kids . . . and that is what kids do. Sarah Chalke gets screentime that adds up to about a minute, Alan Tudyk likewise, and there are mildly amusing moments for Isla Fisher, Stephen Root, and Paul Walter Hauser.
I may have chuckled once or twice, maybe (the memory is already hazy as my brain tries to protect me from the pain). I enjoyed some of the fight choreography. That's about all I can say. James was on auto-pilot, Ritchson sorely misjudged his approach to the material, and I spent most of the runtime (which was, thankfully, just about the 90-minute mark) wishing for it to just end.
3/10
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