Alan Ritchson has entered his Tooth Fairy era. Look, every time an action star wants to expand their portfolio into more family-friendly stuff, they make cute, all-ages comedies that everyone can enjoy. The Rock had Tooth Fairy, for example. John Cena started showing up in the Daddy’s Home comedies. Dave Bautista has My Spy. Everybody does it. Now it’s the hulking Reacher star in the Prime Video action-comedy Playdate, exchanging dad jokes with Kevin James.
The film is directed by Luke Greenfield of Let’s Be Cops and The Girl Next Door fame. Ritchson plays a charismatic stay-at-home dad whose playdate with his unemployed neighbor and their sons turns chaotic when they are attacked by mercenaries.
Here’s the synopsis: When recently unemployed accountant Brian (Kevin James) agrees to a playdate with charismatic stay-at-home dad Jeff (Alan Ritchson) and their sons, he expects an easy afternoon of small talk and football tossing. Instead, he’s thrust into a chaotic scramble to stay alive as they are pursued by a ruthless team of mercenaries. Brian stumbles through one ridiculous obstacle after another, his zero tactical skills a stark contrast to Jeff’s oddly prepared demeanor. Director Luke Greenfield (Let’s Be Cops, The Girl Next Door) hilariously collides suburban dad life with high-stakes thrills, transforming an ordinary afternoon into an absurd action-packed adventure where minivan mayhem meets professional hitmen.
Ritchson and James are a ridiculous duo, but that’s all part of the buddy-comedy fun, right? Prime Video seems to have figured out that its subscribers really like these kinds of films, as they’ve given us Play Dirty and Heads of State in just the last couple of months. It’s a formula that works.
Also starring Sarah Chalke, Alan Tudyk, Benjamin Pajak, Banks Pierce, Hiro Kanagawa with Stephen Root and Isla Fisher, Playdate hits Prime Video on November 12th.
