Another year, another comedy film featuring Ice Cube as the angry guy. These films are so common now they seemed to have formed their own little sub-genre. There are a few things they have in common: Ice Cube being angry, a scared, weak, quick talking co-star, a lack of quality and not as much comedy as a comedy should have.
It’s the last day of school and all the kids are playing pranks left right a centre. Also, a whole load of teachers are getting fired as the school changes it system around. Mr. Campbell (Charlie Day) really doesn’t want to get fired, and in trying not to get fired accidentally gets the super angry and violent Mr. Strickland (Ice Cube) fired. So, naturally, Strickland wants to fight him. But Campbell doesn’t want to fight, doesn’t want to get beaten up, doesn’t want to lose his job and also needs to participate in his daughter’s talent show routine. But the threat of losing his job and the even bigger threat of the fight still loom. It’s a bit of a wacky story and you have to suspend some of your disbelief as this sort of thing I’m sure would never happen.
But weirdness aside, it’s an okay story. And not a very typical one so it gets points for that. I also didn’t really know where it was going with it so there were a couple of surprising things in there. But still, there isn’t really that much to the story. It tries to add new layers in but really it’s just about two guys who are going to fight. And those two guys are Ice Cube and Charlie Day. Day is the scared, fast talking one trying to keep his job and get out of a beating. He’s playing his usual Charlie Day-type character here and he’s fairly good at it. Similarly, Ice Cube is playing his usual character type too. Angry, violent and very shouty. And both of them are good at it. That’s not the problem with the film.
The main problem with the film is that it’s just not very funny. There are laughs in there. I chuckled a few times. I even laughed out loud once or twice. But for a comedy film, especially a comedy film of this type, it just doesn’t quite hit the mark. The cast is all talented enough. Jillian Bell, Tracy Morgan and Christina Hendricks all put in decent performances. But the jokes just don’t land nearly half as much as they should. And the story is just never engaging enough to make up for that. There’s nothing to really connect you to any character or any storyline. It’s all just a bit bland and by-the-numbers and not funny enough to really give it anything to write home about.
It’s a shame as it seems like a waste of talent, but it’s not all that surprising. I never had high hopes for this film so maybe it was doomed from the start. It might be good as one of those comedies you put on late at night when you’re drunk and with your mates and not really paying attention. Is that a thing people do? Either way, don’t give this film too much of the time of day. It’s only worth a little bit…
JACK’S SCORE: 2/5
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