With the new Netflix release: Me Time, Kevin Hart seems to be trying to revive himself. He feels like an attempt to take himself seriously by those who have not allowed him to host a particular event in recent years. The film is primarily a bromance comedy featuring the annoying Mark Wahlberg, who has made a career out of playing annoying men and boys characters. Written and directed by John Hamburg, this buddy comedy film is a series of pranks often based on outdated styles of humor. While I share a review of why it doesn’t work a bit later, let’s see what happens during its hour and a half runtime.
Me Time (2022) Netflix Summary and Synopsis
The film opens with a scene where the characters of Kevin Hart (Sonny Fisher) and Mark Wahlberg (Huck) are near the edge of a cliff, about to jump into the depths. Although Sonny is afraid to accept it, unfortunately, he falls and Huck jumps right after trying to save him. After this clichéd showcase of friendship, the film cuts to the present, where we are introduced to Sonny, a househusband whose wife, Maya (played by Regina Hall), is the breadwinner for the family. While his role usually looks bad, he seems to enjoy it, from taking care of the kids to doing the housework.
Even as he meets with other parents, Sonny continues to profess his love for being a stay-at-home dad. Other parents, from Jill (Naomi Ekperigin) to Alan (Andrew Santano), criticize his lifestyle and say how much more he can achieve. But he keeps mentioning how rewarding he is as he shows his kinship with a housewife who drops her child off at school. He even organizes school plays as president of his children’s school PTA. At an event at Maya’s office, her colleague Armando de Ella (played by Luis Gerardo Méndez), whom Sonny considers to be flirting with her. He gets jealous, thinking they are having an affair.
During their conversation, he keeps sharing details about his children that she has no idea about. Later at home, when he brings it up, she tells him that she is overreacting. Knowing that constantly being with the kids leaves him no time to be alone, she suggests that he take some time off while she looks after the kids. Although he is reluctant to spend his free time with a group of 20-year-olds, he decides to spend some quality “me time” with his old friend Huck. He embarks on an adventurous journey and even manages to win a fight over a wild animal. Although many unpredictable things in this adventure do not match his current personality, he masters most of them and receives praise and affection from him as a primitive man.
Later, Stan Berman (Jimmy O. Yang) arrives at their camp, to whom Huck apparently owes a significant amount. Sonny tries to negotiate a deal with Huck, but Stan doesn’t listen to his plea and continues to burn down his camp. As a result, they have no choice but to return to their homes. After this fiasco, the two have a heart-to-heart about life, where Huck confesses that he didn’t leave his job at the ad agency but was fired from him. While Sonny admits that he leads a boring life, Huck envies how wonderful his life with a beautiful family is. On the way back home, they decide to go to Armando’s house to harm it as much as he can, since he castrated Sonny by being with his wife during his departure.
After finishing this plan for revenge, they return to Sonny’s house, where he is surprised to see several people gathered for a party. There, he finds his father’s friend sniffing some ADHD medication powder for his son. Everyone he meets has a great time, as does this friend. Though puzzled by this and unaccustomed as someone who is comfortable with his life as a stay-at-home dad, he is able to show off his talent for singing with a popular musician who comes to his party. When Maya returns home with her children, she finds out not only about the crazy party, but also the crazy amount he has spent on throwing it, after which she storms off. Later, he finds out that Huck wrecked his car on purpose just because he knows he can get a new replacement.
My Time (2022) Netflix Review
A buddy comedy movie that is mostly not funny.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy Me Time in bits and pieces. The kind of humor that Kevin Hart has worked on for decades to build a brand is sure to have some impact. His singular bewildered expression is found throughout most of the film’s runtime, which attempts to portray him as someone happy to take on a traditionally non-male role. As a stay-at-home dad, he can be seen as averse to everything he liked and being mature about his life choices. He includes not being ashamed of being a househusband, not being interested in ‘masculine’ adventure, and being content with taking care of children.
A lot of this seems terrible, like all the ideas the creators thought might appease today’s progressive audience. They show the openness of Kevin’s character in talking to a gay, transgender, non-binary person, who he seems to have made fun of most in his comedy routines. He is shown to be sensitive, or at least not averse to them. He is shown as someone who learns from his mistakes and acknowledges them. He does not feel dishonored by being a breadwinner for his wife. He seems comfortable living his life doing chores around the house and doesn’t ask for any rewards for it. Even her mother conveys envy for her partner based on how Regina’s character comes to live her dreams, unlike her.
All of this is poorly packaged in the film’s script, which still finds most of its comedic jabs poking fun at his status as a stay-at-home dad. He also seems to have a hangover from The Hangover trilogy, where he seems to borrow much of his raunchy humor inspiration from it. There’s not much you can get out of these outdated formulas of comedy. Despite the strong performances, there is very little redeeming in a film that tries to redeem itself while deriving much of its humor (and its ‘fun element’) from the jokes it purports to criticize. Wahlberg’s character’s arc from man-child to mature adult is perhaps the most annoying trope the film tries to capitalize on.
Me Time (2022) Netflix Ending Explained
Sonny and Huck are friends again?
The morning after the chaotic party, Sonny calls Maya to apologize and mentions that he is not the person like everyone who came to the party. He even goes to Armando’s house to apologize, who says that he sees Maya as his best friend and that Sonny shouldn’t worry about him. At school, he can’t be his usual cheerful and optimistic self because he’s caught up in the worries of the night before. At the school talent show event, he gives his son, Dashiell Fisher (Che Tafari), the chance to play music as a closing act. He doesn’t do it on stage, and when Sonny comes onstage to help him, Dashiell mentions that he doesn’t like to play the keyboard in the first place, and that he’d rather do stand-up.
After this, Sonny gives an impromptu, inorganic emotional speech about being a stay-at-home dad. Dashiell then amuses the audience with his stand-up performance. In the end, Sonny and Maya are overjoyed after apologizing to each other. Later, Sonny visits his friend Huck one more time to advise her not to follow the fantasy of being the most eligible bachelor like George Clooney and to be mature in his life choices. Instead of having to work for Stan to pay the money back, they decide to start their production and ride the waves of fame and popularity in no time.
