“Time for me”: what does Kevin Hart’s comedy fail on Netflix? | REVIEW

While the bank account of the comedian and stand-up star Kevin Hart grows at the end of millionaire contracts, his admirers are witnesses of how that saying ‘paper can take everything’ can be transferred without major problems to the screen: TV can take everything. That’s what we thought after seeing “Time for me”, the most recent comedy by the American actor released on Netflix.

It is not that the 43-year-old comedian is characterized by a record of high-quality films, regular candidates for awards or fixed alternatives in the nominations. Nothing of that. Lately, however, Hart had chosen one or another role that—by demanding something of him beyond joking—produced a sober, correct, and even pleasing result.

Perhaps the best example of this is “A True Story”, a police series created by Eric Newman in which the African-American plays the Kid, a comedian millionaire who, after being involved in a rare crime, exhibits the darkest part of his being to prevent your prestige from collapsing.

Another example can be considered the American remake of “Friends Forever”, in which Hart plays Dell, a poor father full of chiaroscuro who suddenly finds a quadriplegic millionaire (his boss) in his life. Although at the beginning it is clear that the protagonist of the film only seeks to collect his juicy salary check, along the way a beautiful friendship is forged capable of captivating viewers.

More recent and with a result that divided critics is “The Man from Toronto”, an action film in which Hart once again is led to do a duet with a renowned actor in pursuit of a favorable result (he already did it with Ice Cube a long time ago, then with Will Ferrell and more than once with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson). In Patrick Hughes’s film, seeing the comedian acting as a hitman is at times very unconvincing, although the result would win him over.

Quite contrary to Hart’s good results on screen that we have just mentioned, “Time for me” is a perhaps rude misstep in the history of this artist. Directed by John Hamburg, this comedy tells the story of Sonny Fisher (Kevin Hart), an exemplary father who has spent so much time being a housewife, that it is his own wife (Maya Fisher/ Regina Hall) who almost throws him out of the house. to “enjoy some alone time”.

The original idea of ​​the plot makes sense: questioning the old masculinities (a theme that the film zigzags), we see a mother ‘stop the pot’ with her work as an architect, while the father raises the children. “Time for Me” touches on this aspect with the utmost naturalness: on more than one occasion it is even Maya (the mother) who ignores the usual needs or requirements of her children because, truth be told, she spends all her time working.

Here ends the interesting. “Me Time” quickly becomes a messy cocktail of (good) intentions that never quite get off the ground. When Sonny finally manages to break away from his family (Maya and the children go on a trip with the grandparents), his first reaction is to watch pornography in the double bed, go to the club to get drunk and eat non-stop.

But let’s not deviate. John Hamburg’s film co-stars Mark Wahlberg. He plays Huck Dembo, Sonny’s childhood best friend who, just after his 44th birthday, wants the latter to attend his special (and endless) birthday celebration. At first glance, Huck is the complete opposite of what Sonny represents: masculinity, attractiveness, but fundamentally the freedom to do whatever one wants.

Immediately after Sonny’s resistance to going to Huck’s party is shattered, “Me Time” turns into a collection of irreverent, pointless and even obnoxious moments. Running over a turtle, being knocked out by a tiger, shitting on the pillow of a ‘rival’ or being punished with a hammer on the finger could well make us doubt whether we are facing a movie or a compilation of YouTube virals.

Along the same lines as the film’s weaknesses, Kevin Hart plays a Sonny as full of energy as he is contradictory. In this sense, just as he is clearly an exemplary father, he is unable to avoid making a scene of jealousy to his wife just because her boss put her hand on her shoulder for “six seconds.”

Later, when Sonny and Huck finally seem to have teamed up like old times, they both go on a mission: punish Maya’s boss with ugly things, but not too bad (a kind of politically correct revenge). Throwing his left shoes on him, rubbing the kitchen spoons on his butt or urinating on him in the pool will be just new moments in a film that by now has lost all consistency.

Even though many associate comedy with relaxation or fun, “Me Time” requires an effort of concentration if you avoid clicking ‘exit’ to quickly find something else on Netflix. Of course, this precedent will not ruin the career of someone capable of filling football stadiums only at the point of monologues. In that sense, very likely soon we will see him in a new attempt (hopefully this time solvent) to make us laugh on screen.

“TIME FOR ME”- NETFLIX

Gender: Comedy

Country and year: United States, 2022.

Director: John Hamburg

Distribution: Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, Regina Hall

Synopsis: With his family away, a family man takes advantage of his first days alone after many years to meet up with an old partying and wild friend.