A fun old-school action comedy
Summary
The Pickup is Eddie Murphy doing what he does best while also acting more his age here; Pete Davidson’s character is a little annoying but this is still an easy and surprisingly action-packed watch.
Plot: In the action-comedy The Pickup, a routine cash pickup takes a wild turn when two mismatched armored truck drivers, Russell (Eddie Murphy) and Travis (Pete Davidson), are ambushed by ruthless criminals led by a savvy mastermind, Zoe (Keke Palmer), with plans that go way beyond the cash cargo. As chaos unfolds around them, the unlikely duo must navigate high-risk danger, clashing personalities, and one very bad day that keeps getting worse. The film also stars Eva Longoria, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Jack Kesey, Marshawn Lynch and Roman Reigns, and is directed by Tim Story.
Review: Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson and Keke Palmer star in this entertaining action comedy from director Tim Story (Fantastic Four/Shaft). Murphy plays armored truck driver Russell Pierce who is celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife (Eva Longoria). At the last minute he is lumbered with a new partner called Travis (Davidson); while transporting money they are attacked by robbers, one of which Travis may have a history with.
The Pickup feels like an old-school 80’s action comedy with some genuinely funny moments as well as some impressive action scenes. It all seems to be done practically too with no noticeable CGI. There are awesome stunts and the film is well paced clocking in at around 90 minutes.
Eddie Murphy is more restrained than say Axel Foley and acts his age here although the pancake scene is classic Murphy. Davidson has a few funny scenes but his character is more annoying than anything. KeKe Palmer is awesome as Zoe and is arguably the most interesting character; she doesn’t have any chemistry with Davidson though so I had trouble believing that.
Andrew Dice Clay plays their boss Clark who just gets abuse hurled at him and throws it right back for most of the runtime which provides a lot of the film’s laughs.
Overall, there isn’t much else to say, The Pickup is a fun old school action comedy which moves at a decent pace and is elevated by some great action set-pieces. It’ not something you‘ll watch often but it’s worth a one time viewing at least.