Die Hart

I didn't even crack a smile. Just a bunch of goofs...blah blah blah. This is what legendary actors are doing now? Yikes.

If you envisioned that meme painting by Fernando Botero of Pope Leo, the chubby person, titled Y Tho, you're on the right track. I'm not sure why this nonsense was even made. Perhaps it's a mid-life crisis vanity project for Hart, but it ended up playing out like failed SNL sketches. The story, what little there was of it, didn't have enough substance to even fill in the mere 78 min runtime. The action was laughable, and the comedy was lame. Conceptually, the narrative was interesting, but the execution felt like something you'd expect from a high school drama class. I know this is an ongoing TV series, but it's not like it's successful, so not sure who had the bright idea to turn this into a movie no one will enjoy or for that matter want to see. At least the film's premise is right, Hart isn't a leading action star. But he is the best sidekick ever, and should just stick with that.

Originally shown as minisodes. Amazon has turned the original streaming series to a movie.

Die Hart does not have much of an original premise. Michael J Fox played an actor who tags along with a cop in The Hard Way. In Showtime, Eddie Murphy and Robert de Niro are cops in a reality television show.

In Die Hart, Kevin Hart plays a comic variation of himself. He's had enough of being a sidekick in comedies. He wants to be an action star despite his short stature.

However a meltdown on live television threatens to send his career dwindling. However an offer from action director Claude Van De Velde (Jean Reno) is too good to pass up.

Hart goes goes to a training camp in the remote wilderness to be taught to be an action star by Ron Wilcox (John Travolta.) Hart is later joined by actress Jordan King (Nathalie Emmanuel.)

Hart does not like Wilcox and is suspicious of him. That Wilcox has fallen out with some gangsters. Hart also thinks that he is being filmed.

Later actor Josh Hartnett drops by extolling the virtues of Wilcox as an action tutor.

Die Hart is rather predictable, slightly amusing. It was agreeable without any major surprises. Travolta was fun.

If it was made now, the real bullet gun scenes would be cut in light of the Alec Baldwin affair.

Not full on funny but it is entertaining enough. Interesting storyline. JT was a surprise and made the show.

"Die Hart" is a 'series' that was made for the Quibi streaming service, where the shows are meant to be watched on your smartphone when you're on the go, so the episodes are all under 9 minutes. There are some funny moments, but this is one of several Quibi shows that doesn't feel quite like a series or quite like a movie, being lost somewhere in the middle. Actually, "Die Hart" borrows generously from comedies from two decades ago. John Travolta shines in his role and looks like a different actor than we have been accustomed to and it gives him a new energy, while Kevin Hart plays his usual character - aloof and oblivious. The end result doesn't feel like a complete project, as much as spending the day watching clips on YouTube from a movie that you're not sure you want to pay to see in its entirety. I do know, I will not be re-watching this.

Rating: 5