Movie Reaction: Playing With Fire

Formula: Only the Brave / The Pacifier

It's a right of passage for action movie stars to have their "kid movie". Arnold Schwarzenegger did one (Kindergarten Cop). Vin Diesel did one (The Pacifier). The Rock did it (The Game Plan) twice (The Tooth Fairy). Actually, thrice (Race to Witch Mountain), depending on how you define it. The Rock really built his brand on that. Even lower profile wrestlers made movies of this ilk. We all remember Triple H in The Chaperone, of course. With John Cena, it was a matter of when not if. He's already dipped his toe in it with the Daddy's Home movies, but Playing with Fire is his formal "kid movie". I'd argue that Kindergarten Cop is the gold standard of this kind of movie* almost entirely because it was allowed to be PG-13, unlike the others. I like the idea of this kind of movie better when it's an action movie that has young children as an impediment rather than a kids movie that has an action star in it. Regardless, it's a transparent brand management decision I've learned to expect.

*Granted, that movie came out when I was three, so I'm probably just underlining the point that whichever movie comes out when you are a kid is the one you prefer.

So, what's John Cena's spin on this tried and true genre? He's a fireman - sorry - fire jumper. A no-nonsense guy. He and three of his fellow fire jumpers are stationed at a somewhat remote outpost in, I want to say, California. One day, they rescue 3 children from a burning cabin. The children are then stuck at the outpost with them for a couple days after a storm floods the roads. It turns out, the fire jumper station isn't the safest place for kids, and boy do they ever get into some trouble while they're there. I'll let you fill in the blanks for the rest of the story, but let's just say phrases like "finds love", "settles down", and "learns what really matters" all belong in that summary.

Playing with Fire is bad. Or, if I'm being generous, it's targeted only at children, with no consideration for adults. There's an underappreciated difference between family and kid comedy. Family comedy has a mix and is willing to go over kids' heads with jokes. The actors are normally trying to give good overall performances. Kid comedies can skate by without being clever. Their jokes are more obvious, and the actors hit their beats much harder, so there's no risk of a joke being missed. None of this is an accident, mind you. It's a very intentional movie. It just happens to be one specifically not targeted to me.

This has a solid cast, especially for what the movie wants to do. John Cena isn't a comedy genius, but he is game for anything. Professional wrestlers are uniquely trained for this. They are great at big, simple physical comedy, and thanks to the fact that so many wrestling fans are kids who idolize them, they are excellent working with children and knowing how to play to them. As two of the other fire jumpers, Keegan-Michael Key and John Leguizamo are old pros who have a lot of fun hamming it up. In particular, Key knows how to calibrate his comedic voice to work for kids. It's all about enthusiasm. The younger two kids are completely forgettable. The oldest sister is played by Brianna Hildebrand who, as we already know from Deadpool, is a master of the eye roll. Judy Greer shows up as a love interest too, and I'm always happy to see Judy Greer show up. Also, it was nice to see a Hollywood leading man paired with someone who wasn't 15+ years younger than him. In fact, Greer is a couple years older than Cena.

I was more excited for Playing with Fire than I should've been. I think it's because at this time last year, I was so pleasantly surprised by Instant Family. I forgot that it was more the exception than the rule. Still, I can't be too mad as this for being exactly the movie it promised it would be. That movie is a slog though. A contrived plot. Bludgeoning sentimentality. Hammy performances. Uninspired direction. While this isn't one of the worst movies I'll see in the next few months, it has absolutely no "It's better than you think" factor.

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend