Playdate (2025)

[Drunk Monk]

Playdate.  November. 

Yeah, this is bad. It’s a shame because Ritchson is solid. He has decent comic chops and no compunction about self ridicule. Honestly, the only reason I watched this was for him.

James does his usual schlub schtick. Hauser does his portly nerd routine. Tudyk plays the vain super genius tycoon ceo, and is sorely underused (as is Hauser). It’s a buddy flick, but Ritchson & James dont have that much chemistry. Ritchson naturally upstages James, deftly stealing ever scene they share, reducing the schlub stick to mopey and annoying.

It’s a silly comic action farce. Action is played somewhat for laughs. There’s a fight in the mascot dressing room that’s almost funny. Ritchson sells his punches, and it’s mostly one action, one move cinematography but there’s some flow to the fights. What works is largely due Ritchson’s muscle mass.

The ending is crazy cold - a mass murdering by explosion just so the heroes could walk away in slow Mo from a huge fireball to look dramatic.

There’s a lot of father/son themes that struggle to be emotional. Those parenting themes did not hit home at all.

Not D00M reccomended unless you’re a huge fan of Ritchson, which I am, it which case it’s a painful watch because because Ritchson deserves better and his surrounding cast don't have his back. He still shines playing a bit of goofball / delta force alpha male. His character never fully actualizes and there’s only so much sloppiness around tbis production.