The Out-Laws Movie Review (Spoiler Free)
From the nephew of Adam Sandler, comes a forgettable romantic action comedy, starring Workaholics star Devine & Vampire Diaries beauty Dobrev.
Genre: Action / Comedy / Romance
Director: Tyler Spindel
Cast: Adam Devine, Pierce Brosnan, Nina Dobrev, Ellen Barkin, Poorna Jagannathan, Michael Rooker, Julie Hagerty, Richard Kind, Blake Anderson & Lauren Lapkus.
Run Time: 95 min.
US Release: 07 July 2023 (Netflix)
UK Release: 07 July 2023 (Netflix)
German Release: 07 July 2023 (Netflix)
Welcome back to a Netflix streaming review this Monday. Trying to catch up on some movies I missed, I sat down last Friday, together with two friends, and this action romantic comedy came up on the streaming network's homepage. After watching it, I can honestly understand why there was no buzz surrounding this production, which was released about a month ago. It is the typical, lazily written Netflix dump, that is thrown onto their servers for quantity reasons. So, sit down as I explain why The Out-Laws is to be avoided at all costs!
A no-nonsense bank manager, about to get married to the love of his life, is held up by the infamous Ghost Bandits during his wedding week. Certain clues make him believe that the robbers are his future in-laws, who just arrived in town.
What could have been a mediocre, suspenseful, heist-thriller, is turned into a mindless, uncreative action rom-com that is more intellectually insulting than it is memorable. There is literally nothing positive to find in the screenplay, apart from one well-placed James Bond reference that did make me smirk. So, with that out of the way, let's get into the negatives.
This is a lazily conceived, generic story, with a ton of clichéd tropes and unfunny gags. The script tries way too hard to make one laugh plus entertain, to the point that it becomes tedious. The few action sequences are broken up by badly timed, kick-in-the-crotch puns. The only laughs that are garnered are not due to the comedic value of the authors, but due to the embarrassingly painful feeling of discomfort, that the bad writing creates. As an example; it is more pleasant to sit at the dentist than to sit through this mortifying picture.
The plot is incredibly easy to anticipate, offering not a single original twist. The pop-cultural references are aggressively heavy on the nose, coming off as annoyingly insulting, rather than adorably quirky. Then there is an unnecessary banal villain shoehorned in around the middle mark. Nothing about the screenplay works, which shows, as this forgettable concept turns a 95-minute long flick, into never-ending torture!
The dialogues are equally as brainless. Slings of nerdy terms are confronted against rougher, cooler idioms, none of which makes much sense. The jokes don’t land, the one-liners are awkward and cheesy. Finally, Brosnan’s Irish accent is laid on so thick, it sounds fake!
Let’s get to the characters, which are all one-dimensional, clichéd caricatures, with not a single memorable trade. Every single one is easily exchangeable!
Adam Devine, who also co-produced this feature with Adam Sandler, plays the leading character Owen, the about-to-be groom, as well as a bank manager for a mid-large financial institute. Although, why anyone would hire him is incomprehensible. Owen lacks the impulse to blurt out every single thing that crosses his mind, no matter how inappropriate. His urge to be liked leads him to have no judgement in people, yet worst of all, he is an overly-emotional man-child. This also makes his relationship with Parker far-fetched.
Pierce Brosnan plays Parker’s father Billy, a tough and cool-tempered guy, who immediately takes a dislike to Owen. However, he is not as funky as he makes out to be, as he keeps falling into temper tantrums. Unfortunately, Brosnan's charisma is completely lost. Ellen Barkin is wasted, simply being the cool stoic counterpart to Billy.
Michael Rooker makes an appearance as the alcoholic FBI agent Roger Oldham, who is as useless as he is eccentric.
Nina Dobrev, who plays Owen’s future wife, is completely sidelined. Practically cast to look pretty, her role as Parker, a yoga instructor, just like a devoted spiritualist, is given a pinch of weirdness to not end up being completely boring.
The camera work ticks off generic points of this genre. While it is moderately competently handled, it is also uncreative. The few action scenes included are chopped up by editing, unsurprising for many of these simple, content productions. The colour palette makes use of well-balanced colours, the lighting, on the other hand, is overly bright. The setting is contained, playing in the suburbs, typical for an action comedy narrative!
The special effects encompass noticeable green-screen segments, as well as obvious CG blood splatters and flying bullets. Low-level practical effects are used for vomit plus snot puns. A badly edited scene, in which a dog gets kicked, makes use of a puppet.
The score, composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams, includes tension winding notes and Western melodies used for the action sequences. 90s pop songs are implemented during the humorous parts.
Verdict: I should have known what to expect when the Happy Madison logo popped up during the opening title. Still, I was hoping that a film starring Pierce Brosnan would have more quality than this. Unfortunately, this is the typical Netflix movie of the week, meant to boost quantity. The script is bland, braindead as well as right-out embarrassing. The three big action scenes are sprinkled throughout a large amount of lame humour. The narrative is easy to foresee, involving tedious 90s pop cultural references, plus terrible dialogue. The unrealistic, cartoonish portrayals of personas make it hard to sympathise with these people. Adam Devine is so childishly clingy, it is hard to understand how someone entrusted him with the position of bank manager. Pierce Brosnan puts on such a thick Irish accent, it sounds fake despite him being Irish. Nina Dobrev was cast to look pretty and Ellen Barkin to pout. The cinematography is clichéd for the genre, including some visible CG and green-screen. It is a waste of time. The Out-Laws obtains a 3.0 out of 10.
Have you seen this newer Netflix release? Or are you enjoying the summer temperatures outside? If you have let me know what you thought, otherwise do not bother! Thank you for reading & if you like the content, please share & subscribe!