Reviews
The Pickup
The Pickup is a new heist-comedy starring Eddie Murphy, the reliably funny Keke Palmer, and the occasionally hysterical Pete Davidson, a famous trio of talents that should spell success on Prime Video. Unfortunately, what unfolds is something of a misfire, surprisingly flat, rarely funny, and frustratingly unsure of itself. The plot is simple enough. After a staffing shortage, armed guard Russell (Eddie Murphy) is paired with rookie partner Travis (Pete Davidson). Enter Zoe (Keke Palmer), who seduces Travis in a calculated ‘meet-cute’ designed to extract information; when her initial plan fails, she forces Russell and Travis to go along with her scheme, under threat of death.
There’s a solid foundation here, and Tim Story’s The Pickup had real potential, especially with this cast. A full-tilt comedy or a sharp, stylish action movie could have worked, but by trying to juggle both tones, the film ends up delivering neither. It would be easy to point the anger at screenwriters Matt Mider and Kevin Burrows for The Pickup’s downfall. The dialogue is consistently clunky, and the film shows little faith in its audience, relying heavily on exposition dumps to explain every plot detail instead of letting the story unfold naturally. But the blame doesn’t rest solely with the writers, the cast often looks like they’d rather be anywhere else; you’d still expect more from a trio as talented as Murphy, Palmer, and Davidson. Instead, all three deliver performances that feel disengaged, as if they’re just going through the motions.
Rather than elevating the film, the action sequences end up providing some of The Pickup’s most unintentionally humorous moments. Poor green screen work and jarring CGI plague the set pieces, something is becoming an increasingly common issue in recent Prime original movies like this or Heads of State. Worse still, the action is far too sparse for what’s billed as a high-speed heist movie; with only two notable action scenes, the movie feels sluggish and underwhelming.
The climax delivers The Pickup’s only real highlight, a brief appearance by Eva Longoria, who finally makes her entrance as Russell’s wife during a high-speed chase. Despite being billed as one of the film’s stars, she makes a fleeting appearance for about two minutes. Unfortunately, that fleeting moment can’t save an ending that’s painfully predictable, echoing countless other straight-to-streaming heist movies we’ve seen before. The Pickup has the occasional moment of fun, but it’s a forgettable entry that will disappear just as quickly as it landed on streaming.
