One of the problems with family movies these days is that there’s too many that have nothing to offer. Andy Fickman’s Playing With Fire is exactly that – it’s ludicrously lazy with nothing to offer aside from cute kids and wasted talent. It’s a “family” movie in the same way that things like Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Daddy’s Home are – it’s a combination of common tropes found in family movies with absolutely zero of the authenticity and reliability of families that made a few hits in the genre stand out. For a good amount of its runtime, the film throws in a bunch of adult jokes that go over all the kids’ heads but make all the adults cringe – and that just adds to the film’s uninspired nature. Movies are able to overcome familiar frameworks, that of the “family” movie with adult jokes, if they offer up anything interesting like good acting or satisfying messages. Unfortunately, Playing With Fire doesn’t.
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