Delayed Reaction: Here Comes the Boom

The Pitch: "I just watched Warrior and I really think it would work better as a comedy." -Kevin James

How I Came Into It: Kevin James struck gold with Paul Blart Mall Cop, a movie that I still think no one can figure out why exactly it did so well. Zookeeper was a let down, so Boom tried to tap into the fact that James is actually quite the athlete.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It was on, I was drunk, I thought it was on my Club 50 list, and I like Kevin James, in theory. Like his other star-vehicles, this is a completely likable movie (I believe that's a requirement of anything featuring Henry Winkler as the third lead). There's a certain tone to these James-written movies that makes them hard to pan. I think it's earnestness. The audience doesn't need to take the movie seriously because the characters will. It's strange.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: The audience doesn't need to take the movie seriously. This is a comedy without any jokes that really landed for me, and despite the earnestness, that didn't translate to me getting emotionally invested. Sometimes "good enough not to hate" also means "bad enough not to love", although saying 'good' or 'bad' doesn't feel right. It's a movie effectively made for different tastes than my own.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend