The Wasteland Reviewer

The Pickup (2025) Written Review

Who would be a great duo of old school comedians and new comedians to pair up in a new comedy? There are plenty of great comedic actors from the 80s and 90s like Jim Carry, Mike Myers, and others to choose from. There are less comedic actors really rising right now (with less comedies releasing in theaters and becoming big hits). But Tim Story had a duo in mind with plenty of potential…Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson. Throw this pair into an armored car, lay siege to it, and put the action in South Jersey. Boom! You got Amazon’s new action comedy, The Pickup. 

Does Story breathe some life into this comedic and action-packed concept? Story has never been known as a director with a distinct visual styling or directorial voice. He made some safe, inoffensive flicks back in the aughts like The Fantastic Four and Taxi with a few others in the 2010s like Ride Along. Sure, they made money, but they really didn’t leave an impression with their filmmaking. The action in The Pickup looks quite bland and uninteresting with too much CGI leveraged along the way that looks terrible. There are certainly moments in the film where Story is trying to build up intensity and suspense, but it just falls flat. The action is watchable but feels uninspired. There are moments that try to get a little heavier, but the film is just too shallow to get the audience there. The brisk pacing does make it watchable as well…but still uninspired. There is plenty of humor along the way, but it works mostly from other factors. 

What is that “other” factor? The cast. The casting of Murphy and Davison goes a long way. Most of the film finds Murphy playing the straight man to all the nonsense on screen which he has that presence at this stage of his career to make it work. But there are fleeting moments of Murphy leaning hard into his more comedic persona and those moments still hit (even if the dialogue itself is clunky and awkward). The subtle little comments from Murphy throughout give the film some life too. Davidson…is very much Davidson here. His “persona” is exactly what you get, which also means there will be funny bits along with the weird awkward ones. The chemistry between the two is rock solid. Keke Palmer is so naturally charismatic, and she brings plenty of personality to the antagonist/anti-hero of the story. Who accomplices are bland in every way which makes it hard to feel intimidated by them (and the real shame is wasting Marshawn Lynch and Roman Reigns along the way). Eva Longoria gets a few moments as does Andrew Dice Clay. The cast is probably the most consistently effective element of the film. 

But what does that mean for the story? The narrative that Story explores is full of cliches and safe decisions. Even when someone does make it out okay, it feels so hollow and uninspired. Davidson’s Travis is just a simple screw up and his budding romance with Palmer’s Zoe just feels so forced and lacking believability. You can certainly get behind Murphy’s Russell as a character who feels like he has some solid writing behind his behavior and backstory. Surprisingly, the script takes a little too long to get to its real purpose. This is an absurd premise in a “90s action movie” way but this film lacks the inspired writing and bonkers scripts to do much with it. The overall story feels like a bunch of tired buddy cop/odd couple, romance, and action/comedy tropes that give an uninspired feel to the film. The story never feels interesting or fresh enough to make this standout in a flooded streaming comedy landscape. 

Should you go over to Prime Video and give The Pickup a stream? From an action standpoint, this film will leave you incredibly unsatisfied. The comedy only goes so well as it does duo two, the inspired duo of Murphy and Davidson. The story is not interesting enough to make the film feel fresh or different. Story has been criticized for making uninspired yet watchable films for 25 years. The Pickup fits right in there…in the wrong kind of way.