Playdate

• Directed by Luke Greenfield
• November 12, 2025
• Prime Video

A recently unemployed accountant and stepfather sets up a playdate with stay-at-home dad only to be targeted by mercenaries connected to a secret government plot.

Playdate has been out for a bit though I kept skipping it in favor of other things. It seemed entertaining yet forgettable so it was not until I had an itch for action that I took it in. Truthfully, like many Prime releases, it is indeed entertaining yet forgettable.

Kevin James plays immediately-at-the-start-of-the-movie unemployed forensic accountant Brian Jennings that oversells the firing to his wife Emily (Sarah Chalke) and stepson Lucas (Benjamin Pajak). Ten minutes in and we learn so much in his marriage is built on a foundation of lies in Brian’s life. That and his general spineless nature makes him come off as a bit of a POS. It also begs the question of why a company involved in questionable practices would have a forensic accountant that can actually do or is not in on the scam.

Sarah Chalke as Kevin James’ wife is yet another in a long line of Kevin James women who are beyond are out of his league in a movie. I would’ve liked one King of Queens joke built around that. Leah Remini I think could have been a part of a meta joke about that.

In short order he discovers some financial discrepancies, gets fired, and looks forward to staying at home only for his dream day to be ruined by his stepson being off because of his school’s in-service day. No hint of job hunting after the previous scene of discussing their financial situation with his wife and how they will need to cut back.

Like many buddy action comedies, Playdate features a pairing of extreme personalities. It is the meek and spineless Brian and the overly amped Jeff Eamon (Alan Ritchson) whom Brian meets in a park when he must hang with his son. Jeff is there with his boy CJ (Banks Pierce) tossing a football rather aggressively. One meeting in a park is enough to convince Brian that a playdate for their respective sons is a brilliant idea. How irresponsible is Brian?!

Jeff could have been genuinely interesting but he is almost all punchline. We learn he has a crappy dad he barely knows (whom we meet in a scene that adds nothing). While Stephen Root is generally a bonus but he is not here. His character didn’t join in the action or assist in any way. All he did was drive home how without family Jeff was. We already knew that from a scene a few seconds before.

After not killing a kid in a suicide vest, Jeff was kicked out of the military and took a job at a facility where he looked to be the only security guard and kidnaps the kid being held there (CJ) and goes on the run because of those daddy issues. Jeff alternates between stupid and capable as needed to keep the movie going. That Brian does not pick up quickly that something is hinky with Jeff and his kid seems contrived.

Turns out there’s a military cloning program going on to create the perfect soldier, so they pick Jeff and create clones of him to be totally devoid of empathy which Jeff is determined to have in abundance. The characters find the hub facility and as expected end the program after a series of crazy action sequences. They end it by blowing it up. What about all the clone kids? Did they get caught in the blast? CJ (literally ‘Clone Jeff’) is saved because he is the good one but that does not account for the others. Did they just kill all those kids and keep the one they liked? They were all killers, but not all that different from CJ.

Richardson carries the serious action with Kevin James carrying the comedic action. If James had been silly yet successful in the scenes I would’ve been happier, but he was just a comedic failure in them. Just give him some bad success. That’s what you should do in an action movie like this. You must believe the guy can survive against the threat even if it’s despite himself. Not once but twice does he miss hitting someone with a silver Honda minivan. 

There’s no overt hilarity. There’s plenty of weird and stupid that generates a smile. The dialogue is okay. This movie gets the job done but it’s not going to be something you strongly remember. You’re not necessarily going to watch it again, but you’re also not going to ask yourself why you ever watched it in the first place.

Playdate is okay. It scratched my entertainment itch but beyond that it’s nothing you may watch again. It’s once I’m done and that’s just fine.