Rob Reviews "The Pickup"

For the most part, when people mention Tim Story’s name to me, I growl.  Even though lately he has been doing some pretty good work (The Blackening, Shaft (2019), and even Ride Along wasn’t that bad), I still cannot get past what he did with Fox when it came to Fantastic Four.  The second one in particular angered me when I read an interview where he said that he basically made Galactus a black hole because he didn’t want robots in his films, and that took him out of any type of “free pass” for the rest of ever.  With The Pickup, I can honestly say that he is continuing to curve it around a bit.

In what can be seen as Lethal Weapon in an armored car, Eddie Murphy plays Russel Pierce, an armored car guard who is preparing to celebrate his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with Natalie (Eva Longoria) after his shift and approaching what he sees as a happily ever after in retirement.  When he is paired up with the much younger Travis Stolly (Pete Davidson) for what is known as a risky route, they are pursued by a group of baddies led by Zoe (Keke Palmer) as their stories intertwine and the action heats up.

This is by no means a stellar film, but it also isn’t meant to be.  It is simply a hokey (in a good way), date night kind of movie that knows its lane and stays in it.  That being said, The Pickup actually exceeded my expectations for a film that barely clears an hour and a half.  The first half DID make me wonder how it was going to fill all of its run time, but it really does.  The cast has some very enjoyable chemistry, and even though there is a modicum of Pete Davidson simply doing Pete Davidson things, he is able to work that into a performance that works off of Murphy’s in a way that is palatable and fun.  There are even appearances by Andrew “Dice” Clay as their dispatcher, Marshawn Lynch (for the second time this year in a film that is MUCH better than Love Hurts), and even a small appearance by Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i (that IS how he is billed, and his name is in the opening credits, so that’s not a spoiler, kids) that made me giggle a bit.  Even the soundtrack (that has a VERY fun Easter Egg in it) had me bobbing my head on more than occasion, even from the opening credits.

I truly had a great time watching The Pickup, and I would even watch it again if I was around a group of friends that wanted to watch it.  Normally, I would wonder about the motivations of a film like this going straight to a service like Prime Video, especially given that they do like to give their stuff a short theatrical run before streaming.  In this case, although it would be fun to see it in a large group, I am not sure that it is truly necessary.  Whether you want to turn your brain off and enjoy this on the couch or getting the opportunity to see it in a bigger setting, the enjoyment factor is still the same.  Honestly, this would even be fun in a “backyard drive-in” kind of setting with a bunch of friends and neighbors as the summer starts to come to an end to just enjoy some time together.

And I am still not totally cool with Tim Story.  Also, for the record: THE POWER COSMIC DOES NOT COME FROM THE BOARD.