Alan Ritchson has made quite a name for himself among Amazon Prime Video subscription holders, playing the title role on Reacher for three seasons (with a fourth coming to the 2026 TV schedule). For his next project he’ll stay on the streaming service, but it’ll be a whole new look, as Ritchson is teaming up with Kevin James for the buddy comedy Playdate. Critics were able to stream the movie ahead of its release, so is it worth checking out?
In addition to Jack Reacher, Alan Ritchson is likely best known for portraying Aquaman and Hawk in different DC projects, so Playdate gives him a chance to flex his comedic skills. With a supporting cast that includes Isla Fisher, Sarah Chalke and Alan Tudyk, what’s not to like? Well, according to Decider’s John Serba, plenty. Playdate’s references are aimed at 48-year-olds, while the comedy is more at the 7-year-old level, Serba says, continuing:
The movie’s primary tone is ‘obnoxious.’ The dialogue is roughly one-quarter exposition that assumes we have the comprehension skills of a gerbil, three-quarters casually naughty nonsense about zapping perverts in the ballsack or being called ‘a baby back bitch.’ Almost all of it is yelled at 98db. … It finds things like waterboarding and kids hopped up on energy drinks high-larious. It barely bothers with basic functionary components of filmmaking such as editing, cinematography and plotting – you know, things that make a movie comprehensible. Playdate makes the bottom of the barrel look like Everest.
Frank Scheck of THR says Playdate isn’t so much a movie as a “compendium of clichés in search of one.” Stale clichés, at that, the critic says. The movie serves no purpose other than to have something on as background noise while folding laundry. Scheck writes:
The labyrinthian plotting proves so absurd that most viewers won’t bother to keep up with the plot while folding their clothes or going over their finances. Fortunately, Playdate proves so mediocre in every respect that no one’s attention to their tasks will be diverted.
Jim Vorel of Paste rates the movie 2.0 out of 10, writing that in over a decade as a film critic, he’s rarely come across anything as “vastly irritating and downright embarrassing” as Playdate. According to the Paste review:
It’s the perfect storm of uncaring, sludgy cynicism that results in yet another formless, tasteless, laugh-less piece of ‘content’ for the world of streaming feature films. So is it the worst [movie I’ve ever seen]? Maybe not, but I’d argue this might very well be the most devoid of value thing I’ve ever watched on the job, which is a momentous statement in its own way. Playdate will shake your faith in the idea of ever popping on a direct-to-streaming original, lest you again end up watching something like this. We’re talking dreck, plain and simple.
Matt Donato of AV Club gives it a D-, writing that Playdate has no respect for its audience or itself, as it epitomizes the death of mainstream comedies. There’s no energy or wit to be found, and is merely a sequence of tacky events that barely clears the bar for actually being considered a movie, Donato says:
There are titles like Playdate that force us to question our chosen profession, pondering why we’d willingly subject ourselves to such mind-rotting Hollywood gruel. Luke Greenfield’s atomically awful action-comedy may joke about waterboarding, but the true torture is sitting through this embarrassing, humorless wart on Prime Video’s streaming catalog. It’s not even 90 minutes before credits, yet in the moment threatens to become a Sisyphean purgatory with no escape.
Not every critic sees the film as completely indefensible. CBR’s Nicholas Brooks rates Playdate 6 out of 10, admitting that there are missteps but saying it’s a refreshing change of pace for Alan Ritchson, who plays well off of Kevin James. Overall, it works as an odd-couple comedy, Brooks says, writing:
In the realm of standout action movies and gut-busting comedies, Playdate is one of the more harmless choices that promises to deliver exactly what it promises: a relatively short but fun action movie jam-packed with laughs. Not all jokes may land, but it's still worth it to see how the story unfolds by the time the credits roll. The real charm of the movie is how well Alan Ritchson and Kevin James play off one another, and even if the movie itself isn't a hit, those two are a pair that fans will want more of and could've easily delivered one of the funniest comedy duos of the year.
Critics have rated Playdate just 19% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience score is a much more generous 52%. If you’re a fan of Alan Ritchson, Kevin James or buddy comedies that you can watch from your living room, you might want to check this one out. Playdate is available to stream now on Prime Video.
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