2025   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  33min

Action ~ Comedy

Directed by:  Luke Greenfield

Starring:  Kevin James, Alan Ritchson, Sarah Chalke, Alan Tudyk, Hiro Kanagawa, Stephen Root, and Isla Fisher.

Playtime just got real.

Brian Jennings (Kevin James), a recently laid-off accountant, is struggling to adjust to stay-at-home dad life while his wife Emily (Sarah Chalke) is picking up double shifts at work. Hoping to help his stepson Lucas (Benjamin Pajak) make new friends, Brian sets up a weekend playdate with another local dad, Jeff Eamon (Alan Ritchson), whose confident and sometimes wild personality immediately stands out. Jeff’s son CJ (Banks Pierce) quickly bonds with Lucas, and things start off innocently, though Jeff drops hints about his unusual, action-packed past as a soldier and security guard.​​

The day starts out at Buckee Cheese, a Pizza Arcade eerily similar to the real life Chuck E. Cheese, but takes a bizarre turn when a group of armed mercenaries shows up. Jeff is forced into action while trying to remain inconspicuous as he tries to outwit them in the arcade without Brian knowing. Things quickly escalate into all out pandemonium as they leave and race off into Minivan adventures that were never even thought of when they designed it for busy Soccer Mom’s. Along the way we learn a lot more than we wanted about Jeff and Brian, as they learn about each other, bond, outwit and outrun a never ending sea of bad guys through the middle of Suburbia.

When the movie first starts out you feel for the guys and their predicaments. They are completely relatable trying to be good Dads and taking care of their kids. Then things start to get real chaotic as the action and the plot takes some very serious left hand turns. The plot starts to become a little like a bad B Sci-Fi movie, but by then we are so sucked into the action and bonding by Brian and Jeff that we just don’t care. And The Mama Mafia led by Isla Fisher was hilarious. The soundtrack is as big an actor in this movie as Kevin James and Alan Ritchson. I still can’t get The Rhythm of the Night by Corona out of my head.

So, I know, the big question is, “Should I watch it?” My answer to that is a definitive yes with a caveat or two….It is complete unadulterated entertainment, not meant to be dissected nor thought out. Just enjoy the ride!

Turn off the lights and devices,

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and Stream This Movie

on PRIME!

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