By Scott Jeffrey
Jonah Hill is in the driver’s seat for this mismatched comedy, with aims to take Hill’s raunchy style and package it into something that could be enjoyed by both adult and young adult. Honestly if they had taken a few f bombs and a few plot items out, I believe this one could have been just that.
The film walks a really strange line in between something that they would put on family channel, and something that would normally carry an R rating. Some parts seem as though it is holding back.
The plot centers around Noah (Jonah Hill) was sort of a loser who’s dropped out of college and is now living with his mother. With no prospects of employment is lured into a babysitting job taking care of three kids. Slater (Max Records), Blithe (Landry Bender) and the adopted son Roderigo ( Kevin Hernandez). Noah has been seeing a girl (Ari Graynor) or rather being used by a girl and he believes her to be his girlfriend. She gives him a call and urges him to ditch his plans babysitting, and join her at a party where she promises to finally have sex with him as long as he brings her cocaine.
Noah, out of weakness steals the woman’s van of whom he’s babysitting for, and with the children in tow goes to seek out his girlfriend’s drug dealer Karl (Sam Rockwell). After entering Karl’s bodybuilding shop, the drug deal is interrupted by Roderigo, a troublemaker, who comes in from the van, needing to use the bathroom. After leaving it is revealed that Roderigo has stolen a dinosaur egg container which Karl uses to store drugs, and it’s full of cocaine. Noah and the children are then caught in a race for their lives against Karl and his gang.
The really strange part after hearing all of this, is that they saw fit to have each of the kids learned an important lesson, bringing in the whole Disney family channel sort of vibe. Noah has a sitdown with each one of the kids and they talk out their problems, all well being in mortal danger chased by both cops and drug dealers.
I wasn’t expecting much but I got a few laughs. The majority came in the first 5 min. The interaction with the kids is a little bit funny, but there is a lot of really boring moments. The preachy bits that are supposed to be heartwarming, really don’t seem to fit. Things also seem to be tedious as each kid seems to have one shtick and Prater on about it like a broken record. Even Sam Rockwell as Karl, the wild and crazy drug dealer, gets old after the first scene he’s in. I would’ve sooner seen Noah on the flight for his life, all by himself, cursing like a sailor.
Music visuals and acting were all afterthoughts this film seems like it was just a paycheck not a single iconic scene will stick with me save maybe the situational humor from the opening one.
Score: 4/10
Acting: 3/10
Effects/visual: 3/10
Writing: 3/10
Directing: 3/10
Overall: 21/50
Take Away Thought: If you want a really mindless film to watch that you haven’t seen before, throw this on. Just do not go in with high hopes whatsoever. This film isn’t quotable and barely worthy of conversation. It’s a time killer, and a difficult one to see all the way through.
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