Playdate Parent Guide

Brian (Kevin James) is still adjusting to his role as stepdad to Lucas (Benjamin Pajak) when he suddenly loses his job. Deciding his unexpected free time is an opportunity to bond with his new son, Brian chooses to be a stay-at-home dad for a little while. A trip to the park leads to an acquaintance with Jeff and his son, C.J. (Alan Ritchson and Banks Pierce), who seem desperate to make friends, even if they seem a little odd. While on a playdate, the group are attacked by a mysterious and dangerous group determined to get to C.J. by any means possible.

From the get-go I was fully aware that I am not the target audience for this production. Playdate was very obviously made for dads over the age of 40 and that’s it. This is the type of movie that plays in the den where all the uncles have gathered on Thanksgiving. It’s light on plot, heavy on action, and fast paced enough to keep even Grandpa from falling asleep. The film hits a specific niche; one we’re all familiar with. For what it tries to accomplish, Playdate isn’t bad, but it’s not great either.

Though this film is meant to be a comedy, the laughs are few and far between. What’s truly off-putting is that the punchlines always seem to be based on the collateral damage of the action scenes. Usually, action comedies just ignore the consequences of their fights and explosions or acknowledge them with a single snide joke. This film leans into how much innocent bystanders are getting hurt, and it’s meant to be funny. I found it uncomfortable and that mean-spiritedness completely undermines the humor. When the script moves away from that and tries to tell actual jokes they usually land; it just doesn’t happen often enough.

Ill-timed humor aside, the action itself is surprisingly well done. The choreography and cinematography of the fight sequences are on par with much higher budget productions and make for some interesting scenes. Although the story is simple, it does hit some themes around accepting kids for who they are and what it means to be a dad - but the emotional beats have time to breathe in between the almost non-stop shenanigans.

What surprised me most about this film is the PG-13 rating. With four f-bombs I expected an R. The level of violence is on the high end of PG-13, featuring a lot of fight scenes and firearms, but I thought those expletives would have pushed it over the edge. There’s plenty of swearing and violence, plus some discussion of sex and illegal drugs so I wouldn’t show this to teenagers. This is not a surprising level of content concerns for this genre, but sometimes it felt like an R rated script was cut down to get that PG-13, so the tone isn’t consistent. I didn’t hate this movie by any means, but it’s also not outstanding in any area. I’m sure many groups of uncles will have a fun time with it this holiday season, but I can’t imagine it will get any repeat viewings next year.

About author

Savannah Sillito

Savannah Sillito is a librarian with a master's in library science, a bachelor's degree in English, and a certificate in early childhood education. She enjoys nonfiction books, travel, and is a staunch proponent of the Oxford comma.