Streaming
Service: Amazon Prime
Movie
Name/Year: Die
Hart
(2023)
Genre:
Action, Comedy
Length:
1h
24min
Rating:
TV-MA
Director:
Eric Appel
Writers:
Tripper Clancy, Derek Kolstad
Actors:
Kevin Hart, John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jean Reno, Josh
Hartnett, Kenneth Trujillo, Eric Mainade, Joshua Lamboy, Brandon
Quinn, Milana Vayntrub, Stephan Jones, Jason Jones
IMDb
Blurb: Kevin Hart - playing a
version of himself - is on a death-defying quest to become an action
star. And with a little help from John Travolta, Nathalie Emmanuel,
and Josh Hartnett - he just might pull it off.
Cat’s
Point of View:
I will say, right out of the gate, that
I am a huge fan of Kevin Hart (DC League of Super Pets, The Man from
Toronto, Lift). My whole family is. His comedic timing feels
effortless and I also appreciate his more serious side – which this
whole movie underscores (to the degree that satire allows). I will,
generally, watch anything he's featured in. Selina and I often
express this sentiment by saying we'd watch our favorite actors read
the phone-book. Hart would find a way to make even that mundane task
hilarious.
I now have an image of that in my head
that's making me giggle. It's not too far of a digression, however,
because the thought leaves me with the feeling that concept would
have been a more successful series for the Quibi platform than the
story for the Die Hart movie – the focus of this review.
Why Quibi? What is Quibi? If it doesn't
ring too many bells or only feels like a vaguely familiar term, don't
feel too out-of-touch. Quibi was an extremely short-lived
subscription streaming platform that lasted roughly 6 months in 2020
from launch to shutting down. It offered “Quick Bites” of content
in segments of 10 minutes or less. Die Hart (2020) was originally a
series on the Quibi platform. Following Quibi's shuttering, Roku
aquired the failed streamer's content and Prime worked out a deal to
turn a condensed version of the Die Hart show's run into a movie. So
here we are, offering the proverbial “2 cents” on that
end-product.
Now that we're all caught up to speed,
let me first say that I enjoyed my experience watching the
action-comedy Die Hart. It wasn't the best movie or even general
comedic work by Kevin Hart, but I think that was supposed to be the
point. I'm not sure. Director, Eric Appel (Son of Zorn, Brooklyn
Nine-Nine, The Afterparty), was at the helm of Weird: The Al Yankovic
Story (2022), as well. I feel like this caricature of Hart was
probably supposed to be over-the-top in a similar way.
The concept was interesting and
slightly meta – the whole “movie within a movie” angle helped
give a little grounding to the entirely bonkers events. The key to
enjoying this movie was just to lean in and roll with it. Die Hart
wasn't entirely as nutty as some comedic parodies and satirical romps
of the past such as Top Secret! (1984) or Airplane! (1980). I think
this might have left Die Hart somewhere in the middle where audiences
were expecting a more typical action-comedy. This film, while full of
familiar tropes, definitely wasn't typical.
Die Hart had some excellent casting
going on. Jean Reno (Da 5 Bloods, The Doorman, Lift) was an excellent
choice for an eccentric filmmaker. John Travolta (The Poison Rose,
Mob Land, Cash Out) was also a great fit for the seemingly psycho
action-star training camp guru. He's had plenty of experience playing
both unhinged characters and over-the-top movies. I loved seeing
Nathalie Emmanuel (The Invitation, Fast X, Arthur the King) in the
more action-oriented scenes here, too. I've seen her in a lot of more
dramatic roles where she hasn't had much opportunity to show off
those skills. I was also excited to see Josh Hartnett (Wrath of Man,
Ida Red, Oppenheimer). More often than not, he's in such serious
roles. I love to see him in the occasional project where he can just
cut loose, such as Die Hart or Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
(2023). In fact, I'd go so far as to say that there's an interesting
similarity to Kevin Hart's character here and Hartnett's character in
Operation Fortune – on a strictly coincidental surface level.
While I “get” where Die Hart was
coming from, and I had fun watching it, the movie just didn't have
the zing that I had hoped for. If you're a fan of Kevin Hart, or even
any of the other cast members, I'd encourage you to give this one a
watch and see for yourself how you feel about it.
Rotten
Tomatoes Critic Score – 43%
Rotten
Tomatoes Audience Score –28%
Metascore
– None
Metacritic
User Score –
None
IMDB
Score –
5.2/10
Trust
the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5
P.S.
-
When Roku obtained the Quibi programming, a second season was created
on the new platform. This “sequel” series was also given the
condensed cinematic treatment and released via Amazon Prime as Die
Hart 2: Die Harter (2024), and is available to watch now.
Movie
Trailer:
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