Critics Pile On Alan Ritchson’s New Movie as Rotten Tomatoes Score Tanks
Alan Ritchson’s Playdate stumbles out of the gate with a Rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as critics slam its muddled mix of suburban comedy and high-stakes action. Even with Kevin James co-starring, reviews say the laughs are DOA and the tone never clicks.
Alan Ritchson has a new movie on Prime Video, and critics are not sending thank-you notes. The action-comedy is called 'Playdate,' it was sold as a suburban hangout turning into a high-stakes chase, and on paper that sounds fun. In practice, reviewers are saying the tone-juggling act face-plants and the jokes never show up.
What 'Playdate' actually is
Directed by Luke Greenfield and produced by Nickel City Pictures, the film pairs Ritchson with Kevin James as two suburban dads whose kids' afternoon playdate goes sideways when mercenaries show up. It debuted on Prime Video on November 12, 2025, with Amazon handling distribution. The pitch is 'dad comedy meets action mayhem'; the reviews say the blend does not gel.
The scorecard (as of November 14, 2025)
Rotten Tomatoes has the movie at a 19% critic score. Audiences are kinder at 54%, based on 100+ ratings. So, yeah, the gap is real: critics overwhelmingly negative, viewers split down the middle.
"Playdate isn't a movie. It's a compendium of cliches in search of one. What's even worse is that the cliches are so stale."
How the reviews shook out
- Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter went full red pen, calling the film a stale patchwork of familiar bits that never adds up to an actual movie.
- Brian Tallerico (RogerEbert.com) gave it 1 out of 4 and argued the film talks down to its audience, like it assumes you will not notice how thin it is.
- Matt Donato (AV Club) put it in the bottom tier of action-comedies, the kind that drags the whole genre down.
- John Serba (Decider) said the vibe is flat-out obnoxious, which tells you where the needle landed on tone.
- Robert Kojder (Flickering Myth) rated it 1 out of 5 and described it as nearly unwatchable and, frankly, a slog.
- Gregory Nussen (ScreenRant) called it regressive and not actually funny, which is a rough summary for a comedy.
- Across the board: complaints about choppy editing, uneven performances, and heavy reliance on recycled tropes. Greenfield's direction gets dinged for feeling scattered, and the script keeps getting tagged as dated and overworked.
Any bright spots?
A couple. Nicholas Brooks at CBR gave it a 6/10 and basically said it is harmless and delivers the simple thing it promises. M.N. Miller at FandomWire also landed at 6/10, crediting Ritchson for bringing loud, goofy energy and some surprising warmth. Even so, the wider critical read is that 'Playdate' just does not function as an action-comedy, no matter how hard it swings.
Bottom line: star power from Ritchson and Kevin James, big suburban-chaos sell, but the execution has critics seeing cliches and noise more than laughs and momentum. If you are curious, it is on Prime Video now. Just temper expectations.