Saturday, July 8, 2023

The Out-laws - Unfortunately Not Funny Action Comedy Film

Yesterday this new movie was released on Netflix and like any other action comedy which promised comedic moments combined with some action, it obviously attracted me as fans of such genre. And with some big names as the main cast, it increased my interest in the movie. OK then, I will get right to it.

Brief Story Line

Owen Browning (Adam DeVine - Ice Age: Collision Course, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates etc) was preparing to get married to his girlfriend Parker (Nina Dobrev - Love Hard, Vampire Diaries TV series etc) although he never got to see her parents. But few days before their wedding, Parker's father Billy (Pierce Brosnan - Black AdamEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga etc) and mother Lilly (Ellen Barkin - The Man from Toronto, Johnny Handsome etc) did come to visit. Meanwhile Owen's parents Neil (Richard Kind - Cars, Mad About You TV series etc) and Margie (Julie Hagerty - Airplane!, Lost in America etc) were not too approving of their future daughter in-law. 

It turned out that Billy and Lilly Parker were not really who they claimed to be, and it affected Owen's state of mind so much that he was worried about his future. And things got further complicated with the appearance of FBI agent Oldham (Michael Rooker - Love and Monsters, The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 etc).

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

I purposely did not put too much information in the brief story line above as I thought it would be best for you to find out for yourself, although the synopsis in Netflix did give a clear hint of what the plot was. Now being a casual audience looking for some fun on a Friday night, I thought this would be enjoyable to me. However it turned out that I was not able to enjoy it, which came as surprise to me as I am usually easily entertained. 

Thing is, the comedy was too cringe and so many times where they were supposed to be funny but did not even give me a smile or chuckle. I am not sure what the problem was, whether it was the scenario or the cast. I do not have any issue with Adam DeVine as he did what he does best which was providing such kind of humor, but I think Pierce Brosnan overdid it and tried too hard to play the protective father while trying to be funny. Nina Dobrev did not help either as she did not have any chemistry with Adam DeVine (totally not convincing as his girlfriend). Maybe if there were some scenes showing up when her character met Owen for the first time and moved on from there, rather than going straight to the wedding preparation. At least Ellen Barkin did not oversell it.

There were few action sequence which was OK enough but not the spectacular type. Fortunately there were few support characters by people who were accustomed to play in comedy movies like Lil Rey Howery (Free Guy, Deep Water etc) as a staff in Owen's workplace and Lauren Lapkus (The Curse of Bridge Hollow etc) as Bank Manager who Owen always felt competitive with. They at least provided few humorous moments. The movie itself was directed by Tyler Spindel who had worked with Lauren Lapkus in The Wrong Missy.

In the end this movie did not really offer something fun for me. I could also understand if it was ridiculed by critics as even I who could be permissive with cringe humor did not enjoy it. The film had a duration of 95 minutes including some scenes during closing credit but no post end credit scene. Overall I do not think this was Adam DeVine's better movie and people who are not accustomed to his kind of comedy might be better to avoid this one.

Mike's movie moments rating: 2 out of 5 stars

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