This is the sort of lightweight predictable fare that critics despise but that casual viewers love—especially in the run-up to awards season. There’s plenty of “important” films to see, but can’t we all lighten up a little? Sometimes you need a little Dude, Where’s My Car? in between your Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Simon Cellan Jones (Ballers) directs this funny screenplay by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill) about Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg), a mild-mannered family man and car salesman whose wife, Jessica (Michelle Monaghan), loves him but thinks he’s too safe. His teenage kids—Nina (Zoe Colletti) and Kyle (Van Crosby)—mostly roll their eyes at him, but he dotes on his newest, adorable 10-month-old Max (Iliana Norris). It’s clear sailing for self-satisfied Dan … until his past as an elite government assassin comes back to haunt him. Now under the guise of a family vacation to Las Vegas, he must go on one final mission to find who’s out to kill him, while keeping his family in the dark about his true identity.
This absolutely won’t win any awards, but Wahlberg is typically likeable as Dan, and he’s a credible action star who moves through his hand-to-hand combat, chase, and shootout scenes with aplomb. (118 min.)
—Glen Starkey
This article appears in Dec 21-31, 2023.