I haven’t read anything new this month as I’m working on a novel for NaNoWriMo and using my reading time to up my word count. I visited my son this past weekend and we watched the new Ryan Reynolds, Dwayne Johnson and Gal Gadot movie called Red Notice.

This review won’t be popular as I know how many people love Ryan Reynolds. Personally, I think he tries way too hard to be funny. There are naturally funny people, but I think Reynolds has to work at it. Dwayne Johnson, on the other hand, seems effortless when he delivers funny lines. I don’t really have much opinion about Gal Gadot as I haven’t seen a lot of her work. I did enjoy her in this film.

The real problem with the film is it does not deliver. We watched for the approximate two hours and there was no reward at the end. My son and I both agreed it was just to set up a sequel. There was no pay off for the invested audience. The twists were silly and predictable.

It almost seemed as if the movie was written for Reynolds to deliver one-line zingers and The Rock to do his thing with the action star stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some funny parts and some tense moments–a helicopter escape on a tall mountain, for instance– but, for the most part, it was a vehicle for Reynolds’ comedy. I was glad it at least wasn’t vulgar like a lot of his work.

Interestingly, my son and I didn’t talk about it right after we watched as I went to bed and he was already half-dozing on the couch, but the next morning, before I said a word, he expressed that the film had no payoff and no point except to set up a sequel and make money.

I get that the film industry is all about making money, but give me a decent plot every time over a series of jokes. I, for one, won’t be watching that sequel that I’m sure is coming.