Playdate: An Unexpected Day of Action

Teaming up Kevin James and Alan Ritchson as an unlikely but well matched pair, Playdate is the latest Prime Video action comedy that sees Brian (James), a recently fired forensics accountant, struggle being a stepparent to Lucas (Benjamin Pajak). However, one afternoon he agrees to a playdate with charismatic stay at home dad Jeff (Ritchson), and his son CJ (Banks Pierce). Expecting an easy afternoon of small talk and football tossing, Brian is thrust into a chaotic scramble to stay alive as the fathers and sons are pursued by a ruthless team of mercenaries who will stop at nothing to complete their mission. Though not the best film on paper, it definitely has guilty pleasure potential, especially for fans of James or Ritchson.

Playing a more subdued version of what audiences are accustomed to seeing of James, he remains effortlessly likeable and provides a lot of laughs as Brian. That being said, Ritchson completely steals the show, playing against type of what audiences are accustomed to seeing from him, as Jeff. Making James the straight man to Ritchson’s immature loose cannon proved to be a great idea, as they were an absolute blast to watch. They have such great chemistry, one can’t help but hope that the pair get to work together again down the road. Pajak and Pierce, meanwhile, turn in solid performances, as Isla Fisher makes the most out of a brief supporting role. Similarly, the film features a Dodgeball reunion between Stephen Root and Alan Tudyk too, who are also underutilized.

Starting off so promisingly, Playdate begins to dip once it approaches its second half, where its flaws start to show. As its pacing comes to a screeching halt, the film fails to picks that energy back up despite the action becoming increasingly more ridiculous and heightened, accentuated by a decent soundtrack. Throwing in a fair share of twists and reveals that are predictable from the get-go, its humour sees a more significant dip over the second half of the film, offering very little in the way of laughs. Not the most well written film, its subpar dialogue is only made tolerable due to the charm of James and Ritchson, and their ability to at least make their lines sound somewhat convincing. A very formulaic and quite generic action comedy, it makes no effort to bring anything new or original to the table. Still, running at a relatively short 94-minutes, it is not an overly difficult watch for the most part. At the same time, it also ends quite abruptly to the point that it feels like the filmmakers forgot to film an actual ending. To its defense, a blooper reel was a nice touch and does help soften the blow, almost making up for its rushed ending.

Above all else, Playdate is the epitome of fine and a perfectly harmless watch that, if nothing else, may develop into some decent guilty pleasure type fun. Though highly generic and hit or miss in terms of comedy, and loses steam in the second half, the dynamic of Kevin James and a scene-stealing Alan Ritchson help keep it watchable. Without them, the film would stand no chance and would not be nearly as entertaining. In the end, while it’s hard to call this a good movie per se, it is a pretty easy one to sit through at home on your couch when in need of something to watch.

still courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/