The Pickup
(MA15+, 96 minutes, Prime Video)
2 stars
Eddie Murphy's career of late has been strictly streaming fare - and that's been reflected in the quality.
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Not to say that films that actually hit the cinema are always going to be better than those on the small screen, but generally there's a ceiling of quality for a streaming film, and it's going to be reached more quickly than the big-screen ceiling.
His latest venture, a buddy (sorta) cop comedy with Pete Davidson, is of fine to middling quality.
The jokes are obvious but occasionally draw a chuckle, the action is largely forgettable, and the characters aren't well-rounded enough to be memorable.
The Pickup makes for adequate "brain off" viewing. It's super easy to watch while you're scrolling on your phone, and is amusing enough to sustain you for the runtime.
There's nothing so terrible that you'll get overly bored or want to turn it off, but you won't be actively recommending it to anyone either.
The film follows two armoured truck workers, Russell Pierce (Murphy) and Travis Stolly (Pete Davidson, The King of Staten Island) as they attempt to make their day's rounds in record time so Russell can get home to celebrate his anniversary with wife Natalie (Eva Longoria in her second Prime Video release in as many weeks, following the utterly atrocious War of the Worlds).
But along the way they find themselves being pursued by a crew of criminals led by Zoe (Keke Palmer, Hustlers) while they're conveniently in a service dead-zone.
But what Russell doesn't know is that Travis already knows Zoe. He'd met her a few days earlier and they'd spent the weekend together, the driver becoming the thief's unwitting inside man.
A good portion of the film is dedicated to the pursuit, with the criminal crew chasing down the truck along a stretch of highway.
Some of this action is decent, and shot with a little bit of flair.
There's a lull in the action for a while after that, before the climax rolls around full of speed, danger and explosions.
The Pickup makes Murphy's Russell the straight man to Davidson's over-the-top Travis. We're used to seeing Murphy be the more boisterous half of a movie pairing, but that's certainly not the case here.
Davidson plays pretty much the same character he's played in everything thus far, a dopey but nonetheless likeable dude who bumbles his way around.
Palmer, however, is easily the best part of the film. The moment she arrives on screen she commands your attention. She has an incredibly watchable quality and generally elevates everything she appears in.
Longoria provides some decent laughs in her supporting role, and her addition to the final act helps to give the film a little more spark as it careers towards the end.
Director Tim Story (who has helmed films like the 2005 Fantastic Four, Ride Along and 2023 Christmas streamer Dashing Through the Snow) and screenwriters Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider have managed to include some sly references to their stars' careers which are a nice touch.
At one point Travis starts to play The Pointer Sisters' The Neutron Dance (a song most associated with Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop) in their truck and cops a stern look from Russell, while later on Zoe encounters prominent graffiti reading 'NOPE', the title of one of Palmer's most famous films.
While there are worse ways to spend a lazy hour-and-a-half (notably, the previously mentioned War of the Worlds with Longoria and Ice Cube - steer well clear), there are also plenty of other movies more worthy of your time. Every star of The Pickup certainly has poorer films in their history.
