Playdate

You won't forget Alan Ritchson. If he can make crap entertaining, imagine him in a comedic role with a much better script

Nearly everything Ritchson and James do in the name of comedy is forced and untethered from reality. Then again, so is the movie, so at least it's consistent.

Playdate is perfectly awful, glib in its violence, cavalier about “collateral damage” and packed with what regular family movie watchers might call “Hollywood parenting” — kids who curse, bully and have zero respect for sportsmanship and adults, especially parents.

Luke Greenfield’s atrocious Playdate is a remarkably stupid movie that thinks you’re remarkably stupid too.

No one escapes from this mess looking good, although to his credit, Ritchson is at least giving it a titanic effort.

When people complain about the death of mainstream comedies, it’s bottomfeeding films like Playdate that are the genre’s executioner. No energy, no wit, just a tasteless and tacky sequence of events that barely manages to clear the bar for what’s still considered a movie.

Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie that clearly isn’t going to change your life… and somehow you end up laughing more than you thought you would. That’s exactly what happened to me with Playdate. It’s not smart, it’s not original, and it’s definitely not aiming high, but there’s something in its clumsy charm that ends up being genuinely fun. Maybe it’s the mix of goofy action, ridiculous situations, and a cast that looks like they’re just having a good time.I mainly watched it because Alan Ritchson is in it, and honestly, he surprised me. He has a natural comedic timing that doesn’t feel forced. That big-kid energy he has —half brute, half puppy— works surprisingly well here. The movie relies on that vibe more than anything else: when he’s on screen, things flow; when he’s not, the weaknesses show more **** humor is simple. Very simple. The kind that makes you ask yourself, “Why am I laughing at this?”… right before you laugh again. But hey, in a comedy like this, getting real laughs already counts as a win. It never pretends to be clever or groundbreaking; it just wants to entertain for a while, and that honesty helps.Technically, it’s nothing to brag about. The script is bare bones, the action scenes run on autopilot, and some moments feel so out of nowhere that they might as well have been improvised. But because the film never asks you to take it seriously, you end up forgiving a lot. There are comedies that try so hard to be sharp that they become painful —this one at least knows exactly what lane it’s in.I won’t remember it next week, and I doubt anyone will. But during its runtime, it gave me a handful of genuine laughs, and that’s more than what many “bigger” comedies manage nowadays. Sometimes a silly movie is all you need.

Really enjoyable film well paced and no one takes themselves to seriously also a few good laughs.

Not a great movie, the story was weird and the CGI was awful. But I love Alan Ritchson so definitely worth the watch just for that.

Acting was good. Everything else was bad. Script, cinematography, plot, direction, all bad.

"Playdate" is the sort of high-concept action comedy that looks fun on paper but struggles to find a consistent rhythm once it gets going. The pieces are all there: mismatched dads, a suburban day gone sideways, sci-fi twists, and family-friendly stakes. But instead of leaning fully into its comedic potential or exploring the heart at its center, the film settles into uneven territory that never quite rises above mildly amusing. It’s just a noisy, ugly offering of uninspired stupidity that struggles with performances, editing, dramatic structure, and themes. After losing his job at a company with a bully culture, Brian Jennings (Kevin James) settles into life as a stay-at-home dad. Searching for purpose and connection, he spends the day bonding with his stepson, Lucas (Benjamin Pajak), during what should have been an ordinary afternoon out. Their routine playtime takes a sharp turn when they meet Jeff Eamon (Alan Ritchson) and his son CJ (Banks Pierce), a duo whose quiet demeanor masks a much stranger truth. CJ is not just socially awkward. He is a humanoid-like clone engineered for combat, raised under the watch of Jeff, a veteran wrestling with trauma and secrecy. Before long, the simple playdate erupts into a full-on chase when tech villain Simon Maddox (Alan Tudyk) and his mercenaries arrive, determined to reclaim CJ for his original purpose. This plot launchpad sets up plenty of action and introduces colorful distractions along the way, including a neighborhood squad of suburban antagonists known as the Mom Mafia, led by Leslie (Isla Fisher). Yet the comedy often feels scattered, never fully embracing absurdity or emotional depth. The result is a film that touches on many ideas without developing any of them enough to make the impact it aims for. It is worth noting that director Luke Greenfield, whose credits include The Girl Next Door and The Animal, knows his way around broad comedy. But here, even with his experience, the tone never fully settles. The film leans on familiar tropes and set pieces, offering predictable action instead of sharpening its themes or characters. At its root, "Playdate" is trying to explore what it means to be a dad and the struggles men face when trying to live up to the expectations of their sons. The concept has heart, and the Brian and Lucas relationship offers the film’s most resonant moments. But those moments get overshadowed by chaotic plotting that rarely pauses long enough to breathe. Alan Ritchson remains the bright spot, showing an unexpected comedic looseness that hints at a promising shift in his career. Kevin James, however, feels oddly miscast. While Ritchson embraces the film’s offbeat energy, James plays his role with a different tone altogether, creating a mismatch that disrupts their chemistry. "Playdate" wants to be a warm-hearted ode to fatherhood wrapped in a zany action comedy shell. Instead, it ends up somewhere in the middle, occasionally funny, occasionally sweet, but never strong enough to fully deliver on either promise.