True Story (streaming on Netflix)
It’s no secret that I’m a big Kevin Hart fan. I mean…who isn’t?! I know I’ve reviewed at least one of his previous films (Fatherhood) here. This one caught me by surprise though. I had no idea it was coming. I’d never heard anything about it. When it showed up on my Netflix feed, I was surprised and immediately intrigued, so I watched all seven episodes in a single day.
Kevin Hart (Jumanji, The Upside) plays uber-famous comedian/actor, The Kid. In “True Story,” a tour stop in Kid’s hometown of Philadelphia becomes a matter of life and death as he finds himself entangled in a web of deceit alongside his brother, Carlton, played by Wesley Snipes (Passenger 57, Coming 2 America.)
We all know Hart is hilarious. It’s a given. His stand-up is hilarious. He’s hilarious in comedic films such as “Ride Along,” “Night School,” and the “Jumanji” films. We love him alongside Dwayne Johnson. We’ve also seen the dramatic side of him in films like “The Upside” where he starred alongside Bryan Cranston, and the aforementioned “Fatherhood.” He can obviously make us laugh and he can tug at the heartstrings. However, we’ve yet to see him star in something very edge-of-your-seat. That’s where “True Story” comes in.
This is a must-see TV series about the consequences and the domino effect that occurs when you don’t do the right thing to start with. The word that kept coming to mind as I watched the series is “snowball.” It’s a great picture of the snowball continuing to grow in size and pick up speed as it rolls downhill. It’s also a great story of enablement. Oftentimes, we want to help someone so bad, we keep bailing them out of trouble over and over. Eventually, we’ve just enabled them to keep messing up and then they just expect us to swoop in and save the day.
This series, for real, had me on the edge of my seat. The episodes are really well-written and full of twists and turns. I’m serious when I say quite often through this series, you ask yourself, is this based on a true story?! Now is it perfect? No. Are there any flaws in the series? Sure. CSI people will probably go crazy a few times at that type of stuff that should’ve been handled better, and even though I noticed that stuff immediately, it certainly didn’t make me want to stop watching.
As I always do, I read a lot of reviews AFTER I watched the show. I’m pleased that most of the reviews I read were positive. One reviewer wrote, “Try not to binge this.” I’ll agree with that. If you have the time, I think you’ll watch another, and another. You’re looking at about a 4 ½ hour commitment altogether. The first episode pushes an hour, but most of the rest are less than 40 minutes each.
As far as the supporting cast, they did a great job here. I was impressed with the performance of Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy, Army of the Dead.) He plays, Gene, a mega-fan of Kid. Others in the cast include Chris Diamantopoulos (Red Notice, The Office), and Billy Zane (Titanic, The Phantom.)
“True Story” is rated TV-MA for adult language; lots of it. I’ll give this one a 4.2/5, and my recommendation is that you watch it! I love seeing actors show diversity in their roles. This is a new side of Kevin Hart that we’re seeing as an audience.
8-Bit Christmas (streaming on HBO Max)
Ladies and Gentlemen, we now have a new Christmas classic! The same studio that brought us “Elf,” now brings us a super-fun, flashback to the 80s that introduces this generation to my generation’s wonderment as the original Nintendo was unleashed upon the world.
In 1980s Chicago, a ten-year-old boy sets out on a quest to get the Christmas gift of his generation- the latest and greatest video game system. To be a little more specific, this movie is set in the heart of the mid-west, a suburb of Chicago, and is about the average American family in the 1980s, at least the average American TV family. The family wants their kids to be happy, but they’re pretty conservative. The family’s two children only want two of the biggest toys of that era for Christmas- a Cabbage Patch Doll and a Nintendo Entertainment System. If you are anywhere close to my age, you will have a blast watching this movie. My kids really liked it and they laughed quite a bit, but they didn’t laugh near as much as my wife and I, as we lived through a lot of this.
The always great Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, The Smurfs) leads this really fun cast. Harris plays the grown-up version of Jake Doyle. In the film, the grown-up Doyle is telling a story to his daughter, Annie, played by Sophia Reid-Gantzert (Scaredy Cats, The Baby-Sitters Club.) However, the story really revolves around young Jake Doyle, played by Winslow Fegley (Come Play, Fast Layne) and his group of misfit friends who navigate life in the mid-80s trying to dodge bullies, be “cool”, and ultimately just get their hands on their very own Nintendo. One of my favorite comedic actors, Steve Zahn (That Thing You Do, National Security) also stars in this movie as John Doyle, Jack’s dad. He is really funny in this role and plays a great bumbling, 1980s handyman dad.
Admittedly, I’m pretty serious about my Christmas movies. Not a single year goes by without my watching “Elf,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Home Alone 1 & 2, and in recent years, we’ve added “Christmas Chronicles” to the list of must-watch Christmas movies. It goes without saying, “Die Hard” is also watched, usually more than once. Wait a minute! Don’t you even come at me saying “Die Hard” isn’t a Christmas movie. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life. Sorry. I get a little fired up about John McClane. Anyway, “8=Bit Christmas,” I believe, will now have its place in the rotation.
Again, my family and I absolutely loved it. My wife, Christie is a tough sell. Stuff that I find absolutely hilarious, and I’m laughing my head off, I look over and she’s sitting there looking like she’s just planning my demise. She doesn’t even like “Dumb & Dumber!” *Insert gasp*
But she really liked this one, and she laughed quite a bit. That could be a selling point for this movie! I can see the commercial now.
*Morgan Freeman would narrate- “The woman that hates” Dumb & Dumber,” “The Office,” “The King of Queens,” “Impractical Jokers,” and “King of the Hill” LOVES “8-Bit Christmas!”*
Where were we? Oh yes…gather the family, pop some popcorn, crack open a couple of Jolt Colas, and maybe a Tab for mom, and watch “8-Bit Christmas” on HBO Max. It’s rated PG for some “rude” humor and some mild violence and suggestive references. Absolutely nothing too inappropriate though. My 9, 10, and 13-year-old kids watched it and they loved it, and we weren’t concerned about any of the content. I was disappointed with some of the reviews that I read of this movie, but I give it a 4.4/5. It’s a super fun, family movie that will become a Christmas classic!
BTW- I just give my sweet wife a hard time about not liking all the silly comedy that I love so much. She’s pretty freaking awesome even if she did just tell me a few days ago, “I hate ‘King of the Hill.’” *gasp*
See the archives of Watch This with Chris a www.mysaline.com/watch-this