Kevin Hart headlines "72 Hours," a new comedy that struggles to justify its premise. Directed by Tim Story and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the film positions itself as a spiritual successor to Todd Phillips' "The Hangover" formula. Instead, it lands as a derivative middle-of-the-road effort that Hart's star power cannot salvage.
The script borrows heavily from the buddy-comedy playbook that made "Hangover" a cultural phenomenon in 2009. Hart carries the film with his trademark high-energy performance, but the material doesn't provide him room to elevate beyond surface-level jokes aimed at younger audiences. The chemistry between cast members feels forced rather than organic, a crucial deficit in ensemble comedies that rely on genuine rapport to land their humor.
A central problem undermines the entire production: a crime subplot that derails the comedy's momentum. Rather than sustaining laughs across the runtime, this criminal element shifts the tone into territory where crime-caper plotting conflicts with comedy beats. The script can't balance both registers effectively. Hurwitz and Schlossberg, architects of the irreverent "Harold & Kumar" franchise and "American Reunion," understands comedic irreverence. Here, they prioritize plot mechanics over character work and laughs.
Tim Story's direction, solid on projects like "Barbershop" and "Ride Along," fails to inject visual flair into the proceedings. The film feels assembly-line constructed rather than crafted with comedic precision. Hart fans seeking his particular brand of observational humor and manic energy will find scattered moments of entertainment. General audiences expecting a fresh take on the Vegas-gone-wrong formula will leave disappointed.
The comedy landscape currently offers slim pickings. "72 Hours" arrives during a period where studio comedies struggle for relevance against streaming alternatives and