The Pickup Review
Tim Story, known for directing Barbershop, Fantastic Four, Think Like a Man, and Ride Along, returns with The Pickup—an action-comedy heist film, Starring Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson and Keke Palmer. The film lands somewhere between a throwback and a missed opportunity. While it carries the DNA of his earlier work, this outing leans more on star power than actual laughs, and the tone feels oddly outdated for a 2025 release.
There are flickers of fun—around 10% of the humour hits—but the remaining 90% falls flat, relying heavily on toilet gags, fart jokes, and one particularly jarring bit about Android phones that breaks the immersion entirely. It’s the kind of comedy that might’ve found a warmer reception in the ‘90s or early 2000s, but today, it just feels stale.
Eddie Murphy is doing his modern-day version of Eddie Murphy—still charismatic, still sharp in places, but there’s a sense that he’s lost a step. Pete Davidson, meanwhile, leans too hard into his over-the-top goofiness. That said, Murphy and Davidson do have decent chemistry and bounce off each other well—but neither is operating at their best. We’ve seen stronger, sharper work from both, which makes their uneven performances here all the more noticeable.
And then there’s Keke Palmer, who frankly deserves better. She’s got undeniable talent, but here she’s stuck with weak writing and a role that doesn’t make use of her range.
Dialogue throughout is overly expositional and clunky, often feeling like characters are reading cue cards rather than having real conversations. The action does redeem The Pickup somewhat—there’s a genuinely exciting car chase—but even that suffers from the same logic vacuum as recent Fast & Furious films. Empty streets, no stakes, and no other cars? It’s hard to buy into the tension.
There’s an attempt at “old man vs. young man” humour threaded throughout, which occasionally works but mostly feels forced and repetitive. I was just hoping for a little more, considering the cast we have assembled here, two great comedic actors of their respective generations, yet nothing to show for it.
On a brighter note, there’s a great small cameo from WWE’s Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns—a fun surprise for wrestling fans like myself. The Pickup might pass as a casual watch on a slow weekend, but it’s weighed down by weak humour, lazy writing, and underused talent. For a film packed with such recognisable names—and a director with a proven track record—it’s a shame it doesn’t live up to its potential.
★★
On Prime Video from August 6th / Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson, Keke Palmer, Eva Longoria / Dir: Tim Story / MGM / 15
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
About the Author
