Playing with Fire

Starring: John Cena, Keegan-Michael Key, John Leguizamo, Tyler Mane, Brianna Hildebrand, Christian Convery, Finley Rose Slater, Judy Greer, Dennis Haysbert, Daniel Cudmore
Directed by: Andy Fickman
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
2019

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After rescuing three children from a fire, a fire chief (John Cena) reluctantly allows them to stay in his firehouse until their parents can be found.

Review:

Tim: I'll say this- I absolutely hated Playing with Fire when it first started. The movie does get better as it progresses, but make no mistake- this is a bad movie. It's a PG movie aimed at families, but the focus is on the lowest common denominator. It's a movie that appeals only to young children. Everyone else will have a hard time getting through it.

I believe the heart of this movie was effective. It's about a group of firefighters and a group of children finding themselves together in a firehouse over the weekend. This is obviously not an ideal scenario and creates a lot of tension between them. However, the close proximity creates unexpected opportunities for them to learn from each other. The movie does a decent job of showing how this experience changes each member of the cast. There were some solid character arcs in this film. That's one of its few strengths. We all have blind spots and I enjoyed how this movie helped the characters see theirs, so they were able to grow.

The bad thing is that it's all done in such a ridiculous, over-the-top fashion. There was no subtlety and so little was rooted in reality. Everything feels cartoonish, the characters act buffoonish, and none of it feels believable. This is the biggest issue with the film. You could have made this movie with the same premise, still appealed to younger viewers, and made it in such a way that it wasn't grating on the nerves of more mature viewers. This is too typical a path- make a movie that appeals to younger viewers that parents will very likely hate. The whole thing needed to be ratcheted down several levels. You didn't have to sacrifice realism for cheap attempts at laughs I watched this movie with my five year-old son. I probably shouldn't have done that, but he really enjoyed the movie. He thought it was funny. That's exactly what the movie was aimed at- five, six, maybe seven year olds. Older viewers won't be much of a fan (I wasn't).

The cast is strong, but they all seem so absurd. I don't mind John Cena and I have to admit he put a lot into this performance. You can tell he was firmly committed to it. The problem is that director Andy Fickman didn't do him any favors. Fickman isn't a good director. He had no ability to help Cena craft a better performance. Cena didn't need to be so over-the-top. He could have actually acted instead of mugging for the camera. Cena put in the work, but Fickman didn't direct him enough. The end result is that Cena looks ridiculous here. I cringed quite a bit. Keegan-Michael Key had no problem dialing his performance up to 11. It didn't need to be like that, but he seemed to have fun with the role. He actually did create some funny moments. He was one of the most humorous aspects of the film. I like John Leguizamo and he did a decent job. He has some bad moments, but it was mostly a performance that worked. Had Cena been closer to Leguizamo's level of performance, this would have been a better movie. Brianna Hildebrand actually gave a strong performance. It was great seeing Judy Greer. Similar to Leguizamo, she was strong outside of a few bad moments. Dennis Haysbert wasn't terrible. The cast had a lot of talent, but they weren't helped by their director.

This movie is harmless, but it's difficult to sit through. It's not overly long, but it definitely feels like it takes a bit of a toll. Everything is so one-dimensional and obvious. It has moments that will appeal to young viewers, but it feels very much like a subpar effort from a not good director. Everything didn't need to be exaggerated, it didn't need to be presented like this.

There's worse movies than Playing with Fire, but it's hard to feel good about much with this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5


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