Playing with Fire: Film Review

Playing with Fire: Film Review

Cast: John Cena, John Leguizamo, Keegan-Michael Key, Dennis Haybsert, Judy Greer, Brianna Hildebrand
Director: Andy Fickman

It's not just that Playing With Fire is bad, it's also that it's so excruciatingly bad that it extinguishes your will to get through its 95 minute run time.

From Nickleodeon, you'd expect this tale of a group of smoke jumpers, headed up by straight-laced Cena's Jake Carson, to be broad family fare. However, as this mix of Kindergarten Cop and unfunny flat oneliners proves, not everything Cena touches turns to comedy gold.

When Carson and his team rescue a group of three kids, headed up by Deadpool's Brianna Hildebrand, from a fire, they're forced to give them shelter in the firehouse for the weekend.

But the chaos of the kids in the big house causes untold issues for the uptight, emotionally stunted Carson and his compatriots. And it's further compounded when Carson finds his chance for promotion dangling in the balance.

Playing With Fire is a mix of sentimental with the silly, but unfortunately, none of it really gels together.

Slow mo shots of the firefighters early on give way to corny gags and a plot that's threadbare at best, non-existent at worst.

Sure there's the old trope of the emotionally stunted men getting in touch with their feelings, but none of it's presented well enough to be engaging.

From Keegan-Michael Key's over-emphatic No2 to Leguizamo's misquoting and My Little Pony watching firehouse chef, the film's desire to play silly and broad doesn't work, because the gags aren't amusing enough to anyone over the age of 5.

A lack of writing can't be substituted for what's needed within the film, and while Cena et al prove they don't care enough to debase themselves with what the script dictates, Playing With Fire is more an exercise in patience and tedium.

The problem is that the rewards for doing so just aren't nearly enough.