Playing With Fire is a family comedy film directed by Andy Fickman. The plot sees a group of smoke dodgers look after three children for a few days and finding out that they are more work than they bargained for.
Will this film win awards? No it won’t. Will it be the best film you will see all year? No again. Will it make you smile? Yes, it will and is that not the most important thing?
I put this film on looking for some wholesome entertainment and I found just that. The comedy is quite good, there are a few laugh inducing moments throughout the film, but mainly you find yourself just smiling at the wholesome fun of it. For me, the slapstick comedy of the film, mainly done by John Cena (who is also the lead), did not really work. It felt juvenile and even then quite base, on the whole Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo steal the show comedically.
The plot was nothing new, it was all fairly standard the twist about the kids is fairly obvious and the decision at the end is signposted from the start of the film, so neither feel surprising. If you are looking for a strong plot then this is not the film for you, it took things that you have seen before and did then again well enough to be entertaining.
I enjoyed the wholesomeness of this film and watching it defiantly improved my mood.
Overall, far from perfect, but it will entertain you and make you smile
Pros.
The comedy
The wholesomeness
The ending is sweet
Cons.
The plot is fairly been there done that and the plot twists and turns are obvious
The slapstick doesn’t work and feels too dumb
Cena is a weak lead
3/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 