"Me Time" a tolerable time-filler that you'll neither love nor hate

Me Time (2022)

The marketing hook, “from the director of ‘I Love You, Man’ and ‘Along Came Polly,’” makes total sense while watching writer-director John Hamburg’s “Me Time.” Like the former, it’s an R-rated male-bonding comedy, and like the latter, it litters the sweet stuff with dumb gags that try hard to be riotous but don’t always deliver actual humor. Kevin Hart, Mark Wahlberg, and a standout supporting cast do manage a handful of amusing moments, as well as some nice sentiments. Come to think of it, it’s kind of like a hit-and-miss Adam Sandler comedy, where a good deal of heart and a breezy, laid-back tone get soured by wacky physical comedy and lowest-common-denominator jokes involving projectile vomiting, donkey dicks, and defecation. Everyone’s time could probably be better served, but all in all, “Me Time” is a tolerable time-filler that's hard to love and hard to dislike.

Kevin Hart dials down his shout-from-the-standup-stage persona to play a modern parent once again following Netflix’s “Fatherhood.” He plays Sonny Fisher, a stay-at-home dad and devoted PTA president at his kids’ elementary school. He may not be the breadwinner—that would be his supportive wife Maya (Regina Hall), a successful architect—but deserves some time to himself, and Maya encourages her husband to cut loose. This would, in turn, give Maya a chance for some quality time with the kids (Che Tafari, Amentii Sledge) by herself on Spring Break. At first, Sonny’s “me time” is relegated to being at home, until old pal Huck Dembo (Mark Wahlberg) invites him to his 44th birthday bash. Seeing as how Huck still flies by the seat of his pants and parties like he’s still in his twenties, Sonny declines at first, but we wouldn’t have a movie if Sonny and Huck didn’t reunite and get into a lot of mischief.

For a story about progressive parental roles and the importance of alone time, “Me Time” seems honest enough at first that it didn’t even need the Wildly Irresponsible Friend character. But since this is the movie we got, it has to play to the widest audience and regress to the maturity level of its co-lead. The extended “Huckchella” set-piece involving Huck’s party-bus adventure in the desert has potential for wild comedy. But a surprise foraging dinner with all of his friends (a bunch of extras in matching track suits plus Tahj Mowry) takes place entirely off-screen so we can watch Sonny try relieving himself in a bucket and be chased by a mountain lion instead. This is then followed by the introduction of a superfluous subplot that involves Huck getting a visit from a loan shark (Jimmy O. Yang) who’s owed $47,000, which Sonny will, of course, lend to Huck. All of this somehow connects with Sonny being afraid that Maya’s wealthy client Armando (Luis Gerardo Méndez) is moving in on his wife, so Huck and Sonny break into Armando’s house and lightly vandalize the place (dumping out spices and deleting everything on Armando’s DVR leads to Sonny dropping a deuce on his bed). There’s also some business with an injured turtle; in fact, this movie has a strange relationship with animals. All of this for some "me time." 

Hart is likable and less broad in dad mode as Sonny, and he and Regina Hall share easygoing chemistry as husband and wife. Hall, always a reliable presence, also doesn't get stuck playing Maya as a nag or a stick in the mud, two typical fallbacks for the role of the wife in movies. Mark Wahlberg gets to be more of the wild card, proving he’s still ripe for himbo roles, but his Huck does almost become an afterthought. There is a great supporting cast, though, many of them stealing improvisational laughs from the leads, including comedians Andrew Santino and Naomi Ekperigin as fellow parents. Ilia Isorelýs Paulino is another scene-stealer as Uber driver Thelma who gets sucked into Sonny and Huck’s adventures. John Amos and Anna Maria Hordsford are also very funny as Maya’s parents. 

John Hamburg’s script does have something to say about modern families, adulting, and letting your kids think for themselves, although how it goes about it all is quite pat and eye-rolling. Climaxing at the big talent show that Sonny orchestrates for his son’s school, the movie just underlines its messages in front of a crowd and in make-ups between Sonny and his wife, and Sonny and Huck. It’s almost as if “Me Time” is putting a lot of pressure on its leads, counting on Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg to show up and the rest of the movie will just manifest. It’s not always that easy, and while much of this feels like a clothesline of sketch ideas, it still goes down easy as pablum.

Grade: C +

Netflix is releasing “Me Time” (101 min.) to stream on August 26, 2022.