Kevin Hart & Mark Wahlberg in the comedy Limp Netflix – The Hollywood Reporter

Middle-aged men acting foolishly have sadly become cinematic in an era marked by celebrating the refusal to grow up as a way of life. Any doubts that the new Netflix comedy starring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg would go against the trend is immediately dispelled in its opening moments with its daring stunts (not by the stars perform) and the vast pitfalls that will not occur in the era of silence. So sad, My time doesn’t get any more complicated from there.

Director/screenwriter John Hamburg (Let’s go to Polly, I love you, man) has long proven to delight in finding humor in strong personality differences. Such is the case with best friends Sonny (Hart), a devoted stay-at-home dad taking care of two young children while accomplished architect wife Maya (Regina Hall, too good for this) family-supportive, and fun-loving, committed Huck (Wahlberg), whose name seems to be primarily intended to open up catchphrases like “Let’s Get Hucked Up!”

Huck, who seems to spend most of his time planning his own elaborate birthday party, finally succeeds in convincing Sonny to spend some time “for me” and let Maya take care of the kids so that he can attend Huck’s Burning Man “Big 44” style birthday event in Death Valley. Cue will be hilarious when Sonny, more used to PTA meetings and school talent shows than experiencing nature, quickly becomes entangled in a life-and-death battle with a ferocious CGI mountain lion. .

It was just one of many misdeeds towards the unlucky Sonny, especially after he let his jealousy get the better of him when he suspected Maya of falling into the rich boss’s magic net. yes, her ridiculously handsome Armando (Luis Gerardo Mendez), who even shows up on her weekend with the kids at her elderly parents’ home. (They were played by sitcom veterans John Amos and Anna Maria Horsford, who looked like they were missing the presence of a live studio audience.)

Sonny and Huck break into Armando’s house, where they commit petty acts of revenge like deleting his DVR, urinating in his pool, and Sonny getting very serious on his bedroom pillow (he shyly explained that he had relieved himself earlier that day). They also attempt to free Armando’s giant pet turtle, which leads to pranks that reflect a mistaken assumption on the filmmaker’s part that Hart performs oral resuscitation on an inherently very reptilian reptile. funny.

There are a lot of exciting or unpredictable moments in the film, including the revelation that Huck’s seemingly carefree life is actually in disarray and that he’s very fond of the least threatening loan shark from the movie. ​to date (Jimmy O. Yang), who lets his tough female nails do his dirty work for him.

The two stars have won considerable sympathy from audiences throughout their wildly successful careers. But that sentiment will likely be tested with too many sub-comic endeavors, such as this familiar one at the expense of Hart’s live wire exasperation and Wahlberg’s (he there’s an early nude scene, as if to reassure viewers that he’s lost all the weight from Father Stu) without offering anything new or exciting. Jokes like Wahlberg’s character proudly model his carefree lifestyle after George Clooney (before he’s married and have kids, of course) or the guest appearance of singer Seal, who plays the role. himself and sing, what else, “Crazy,” smack of scriptwriter despair — as well as every aspect of this hopeless formula star medium.