SYNOPSIS: In “The Pickup,” a new action comedy now streaming on Prime Video, Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson play odd couple armored truck drivers drawn into a scheme by cunning thief Zoe (Keke Palmer). “You two are going to help me steal 60 million dollars from the casino,” she says.
CAST: Eddie Murphy, Keke Palmer, Pete Davidson, Eva Longoria, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Jack Kesy, Andrew Dice Clay, Marshawn Lynch. Directed by Tim Story.
REVIEW: Given the talent involved, the most surprising thing about “The Pickup” is how excruciatingly unsurprising it is. Not even its three, very appealing above-the-title stars can rescue this 1980s inspired tepid action comedy.
To be precise, it’s more action than comedy, although there is a golden “Neutron Bomb” needle drop.
Murphy, who can usually wring laughs out of even the most banal of material (I’m looking at you “Candy Cane Lane”) but here it’s as if he’s sleepwalking. He’s playing the older, seasoned armored truck driver to Davidson’s inexperienced wildcard—Murphy’s Russell has twenty-five years on the job whereas Davidson’s Travis only took a fifteen-hour on-line course—but while Murphy’s serious, deadpan delivery supplies the odd laugh, his usual charm is hidden under a bushel.
Davidson riffs on his public persona. Vulnerable but scrappy, he plays Travis as an underdog whose reach exceeds his grasp. He’s a gullible dreamer, a screw-up, and (conveniently) a math whiz who can do complex equations in his head. Davidson’s awkward charm goes a long way, but the character is more goofy than funny.
Palmer fares better, creating a baddie you actually root for.
By the time the end credits roll, “The Pickup” reveals itself to be less than the sum of its parts. All three leads are charismatic, and promise fireworks, but deliver a dud.
A mix-and-match of “American Pie” and “Fight Club,” the new comedy “Bottoms,” starring “The Bear’s” Ayo Edebiri and “Shiva Baby’s” Rachel Sennot, and now playing in theatres, is a boisterous queer high school sex romp with an edge.
Edebiri and Sennot are Josie and PJ, best friends and high school outsiders desperate to catch the attention of cheerleaders Isabel (Havana Rose Liu), who also happens to be the girlfriend of the school’s star quarterback Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine), and Brittany (Kaia Gerber).
Ignored by the cool kids—there’s a rumor going around that they spent the summer in a juvenile-detention center—Josie and PJ form a plan to get cozy with their crushes. “We are literally at the bottom,” says PJ. “We have nowhere to go but up.” When the news breaks that a female student was assaulted by a rival football team member, they form a fight club.
“So, we teach a bunch of girls how to defend themselves,” says PJ. “They’ll be grateful. Next thing you know, Isabel and Brittany are kissing us on the mouths!”
Of course, an outlandish plan like this has outlandish and unexpected repercussions when a show of solidarity goes one step too far.
Unapologetically rowdy and rambunctious, but also cheerfully sweet and sensitive, “Bottoms” one of the funniest and bloodiest stories about the anarchy of adolescence to hit screens since “Heathers.” It follows high school movie tropes right out of the John Hughes handbook, but subverts each and every one of them to create something unexpected.
The idea of creating a fight club as a way to get girlfriends may be far out, but the premise is brought back to earth by Josie and PJ and their very understandable motivations. They want what every teenager wants; to be part of the crowd, to be popular and to have a special someone. In that context, “Bottoms” emulates many other teen comedies. Add some broken noses and bloodied lips and you get an off kilter, but genuine, look at life in the halls and classrooms of most every high school.
At the heart of it all are Edebiri and Sennot. Three years ago they starred in a Comedy Central digital series titled “Ayo and Rachel Are Single,” and their chemistry remains intact. Sennot (who co-wrote the script with director Emma Seligman) is brash and bold, mining the material for all its absurdity. Edebiri is more deadpan, a gentler presence who seems aware of the absurdity of the situation.
For all its bravado, attitude and heightened humor, “Bottoms” is a remarkably insightful and introspective look at high school and female friendship. That it is also an unruly good time just adds to its quirky charm.
SYNOPSIS: In “The Pickup,” a new action comedy now streaming on Prime Video, Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson play odd couple armored truck drivers drawn into a scheme by cunning thief Zoe (Keke Palmer). “You two are going to help me steal 60 million dollars from the casino,” she says.
