’72 Hours’ Review: Kevin Hart Tries to Be Down With the Kids in a Mediocre ‘Hangover’ Knockoff

This Netflix confection reunites the comedian with his 'Ride Along' director Tim Story for a generation-gap comedy that just isn't quite enough fun to pass muster.

By Todd Gilchrist

Todd Gilchrist

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Great comedies are in short supply these days, but “72 Hours” offers a reminder that a crime subplot can quickly ruin even a potentially average one. Directed by Tim Story (“Barbershop,” “Ride Along”) and written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (the “Harold & Kumar” trilogy, “American Reunion”), this latter-day “Hangover” retread did not need to do anything but, you know, deliver laughs in order to tickle audiences’ funny bones. But even with a cast led by Kevin Hart and stacked with “Saturday Night Live” alums Marcello Hernández, Ben Marshall and Kam Patterson, this summertime confection from Netflix frantically — and disappointingly — throws everything at the wall in the hopes that something will stick.

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