Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg star in this boys’ night out comedy that fails to find its laughs.
The hero of the uneasy comedy “Me Time” begins the movie in a flashback, in free-fall. Sonny (Kevin Hart) has just tried to bail on a day of wingsuit gliding with his longtime friend Huck (Mark Wahlberg), but a burst of propelled air has sent him plummeting down the side of the cliff face. Huck dives after, guiding his friend away from certain death. Sonny is saved, but the movie never shakes off this initial sense of panic.
In the present, Sonny is a stay at home dad, whose wife Maya (Regina Hall) is a prominent architect. Sonny fears that he doesn’t measure up to his accomplished spouse, and so he brings an overachiever’s anxiety to parenting. With tension at home, Maya offers to take the kids away for a vacation, so Sonny can take a break from superdad duties.
Sonny uses his solo time to join in his old friend Huck’s birthday celebrations, and he finds himself drawn into Huck’s daredevil ways. Together, they indulge in a boys’ night binge of bad behavior. They break into the house of Maya’s most solicitous client, engage in a bacchanal at Sonny’s home and, most damningly, Sonny lends Huck some of his family’s money.
“Me Time” is written and directed by John Hamburg, and his movie attempts to include domestic conversations that speak to the lives of men who keep house. But this boys’ night out is light on the wisecracks, pratfalls and gags that might produce laughs. There is a flatness that feels apparent in every shot — and not just because the movie is filmed in bright, low contrast lighting. The film’s experienced cast punches their lines in search of jokes that never materialize, leaving the comedy to nosedive.
Me Time
Rated R for language, drug references, sexual references and brief nudity. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
