Playdate
Talk about getting screwed without a Reacher ‘round.
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“Playdate” (now streaming on Prime Video) is an action-comedy that excels at playing dumb when it should really just play dead.
Brian Jennings (Kevin James) is a forensic accountant who’s just been fired from his job for having morals, which forces his wife Emily (Sarah Chalke) to return to work as a lawyer and him being a house husband and stay-at-home dad to his stepson Lucas (Benjamin Pajak, so good as Young Chuck in “The Life of Chuck” earlier this year).
Brian and Lucas go to the park where he wants to engage with the boy through sport, but Lucas is more interested in dance. While there Brian runs afoul of the “Mommy Mafia” led by Leslie (Isla Fisher) and spots another father-son duo Jeff Eamon (Jack Reacher himself, Alan Ritchson) and CJ (Banks Pierce) – both of whom have laser rocket arms like they’re Peyton freakin’ Manning.
Lucas and CJ quickly hit it off and the foursome begin hanging out, but their titular playdate is disrupted when shadowy government types begin pursuing them and a prolonged chase ensues.
“Playdate” is directed by Luke Greenfield (who’s made movies I’ve enjoyed such as “The Girl Next Door” and “Let’s Be Cops”) and scripted by Neil Goldman (he’s a writer and an executive producer on “Shrinking,” which is worlds better than this). It’s a 93-minute Honda Odyssey commercial with maybe three laughs in it (the best of the bunch involves Leslie’s son accidentally tasing her or a recurring bit about Brian’s windbreaker making him look like a sex offender).
I like Ritchson and he can be very funny (see “Blue Mountain State” as evidence), but the material isn’t up to snuff with his talents. James is James, whom I’ve enjoyed at times (mostly from “The King of Queens” and his burp snart bit from “Grown Ups 2”), but he won’t be making any converts here. Fans of James’ shtick should be satisfied, however.
“Playdate” makes tons of references to other, better films. Lucas and CJ watch age-inappropriate movies in the van’s backseat including “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Boyz N the Hood” and Greenfield’s aforementioned “The Girl Next Door” (despite being good, one of these flicks ain’t on the level of the others). Nods are also made to “Thelma & Louise” (man, does this movie have a thing for 1991 between this, “Lambs” and “Hood”), “Jurassic Park” and “Forrest Gump.” It’s probably not a great idea to source superior movies while serving us something inferior.
“Playdate” goes to some fantastical places that I don’t want to spoil here, but it culminates with Ritchson’s Jeff blowing up a building full of children and it’s played for laughs. Talk about getting screwed without a Reacher ‘round.