Playdate
A braindead action comedy, Playdate stars Kevin James as stay-at-home stepdad Kevin struggling to make a connection with the awkward Lucas (Benjamin Pajak). Enter alpha dude Jeff (Alan Ritchson) and his even more awkward kid CJ (Banks Pierce). In the course of afternoon, Kevin's interactions with Jeff lead him to be hunted by armed mercenaries and mistaken for a child abductor along with Jeff, who actually is one (hardy har har, ain't child kidnapping hilarious?).
One of Playdate's problems, and oh boy does it have problems, is Jeff who goofy outer appearance never jives with his skillset and physical abilities. I kept waiting for the film to reveal he was just playing a role to stay under the radar, but no, he really is a moron who wants to be Kevin's friend. As for James, he's doing Kevin James things with his sitcom schtick falling flat without a laugh track. And the kids, whose apparent direction was stand in front of the camera and act awkwardly, seem to have as little idea what's happening as the film's audience.
Woof, this is a dog of a movie. Revelations involving Lucas' real identity and a waste of special effects that involves the literal death of dozen of kids at the hands of our "heroes" only make this script from Neil Goldman even more head scratching. The only bright spot of the film, and I'm using that term loosely, is the incredibly short cameo by Isla Fisher as the leader of a group of crazy van-driving moms that disappear just as quickly as they appear after getting run off the road by Kevin and Jeff never to be seen again. They were the lucky ones.
- Title: Playdate
- IMDb: link
