The Pickup Review: In this Prime Video action-comedy film, a routine cash pickup goes very sour when two mismatched armoured truck drivers are ambushed by ruthless criminals who are after much more than just the cash in their trucks. As the day keeps getting worse, the two must navigate several difficulties being hurled their way to get their jobs done!
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The Pickup Movie Cast
Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson, Eva Longoria, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Jack Kesy, Andrew Dice Clay, Marshawn Lynch, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i, Keke Palmer
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The Pickup Prime Video Writers
Kevin Burrows, Matt Mider
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The Pickup 2025 Director
Tim Story
The film has a runtime of 94 minutes.
The Pickup Review
In Prime Video’s The Pickup, two mismatched armoured truck drivers find themselves hijacked and then pulled into a dangerous heist where the stakes seem to be non-existent, as is the comedy. This is a light-hearted watch that brings forth talented actors to not do too much because the story, much like the characters, is surface-level and uninteresting.
The story feels obvious, without many twists and turns, leaving us bored because you know this is going to have a happy ending regardless of what’s happening. The thing with movies like these is that they lack nuance and surprise. There’s nothing here that feels like it’s out of the ordinary in any way. The twists are few and far between and are quite obvious as well.
The last time I watched an Eddie Murphy comedy, it was Candy Cane Lane and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, both of which were quite disappointing and unfunny. The Pickup follows a similar route, leaving us to question what about the bickering between Russell and Travis we are supposed to be laughing about.
This isn’t to say that bickering cannot be funny, but Murphy and Davidson have hardly anything to say that can be classified as witty or humorous. Davidson follows his tried and tested character, comprising a stupid guy who unwittingly gets roped into a heist, and it’s just so bland and unfunny that it feels like a chore to watch.
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Sure, some fun moments can be entertaining. But, as a whole, the story doesn’t evoke a sense of thrill or mystery. The chase sequences are obvious, and Keke Palmer’s Zoe is an uninteresting antagonist who feels more flirty than scary. As mentioned before, there are hardly any stakes in this movie, and it shows time and time again. There isn’t one moment when you feel genuinely scared for either of our protagonists, and the obvious stupidity leaves you annoyed after a while. Eva Longoria is also in this film as Russell’s girlfriend, and I am still trying to figure out the point of her character and how it impacts anything in any way.
Final Thoughts
Is The Pickup the worst movie to have been released this year? Not really. But it’s not particularly memorable either. The film has no tension or intrigue, and the humour is bland and repetitive. The bickering between the two protagonists feels tried and tested and doesn’t invoke anything other than abject boredom. Sure, this one may not be the worst, but it isn’t particularly great either.