Netflix Double Feature: One Movie Surprised Us... The Other Just Needed to Relax 72 Hours and Little Brother

Netflix Double Feature: One Movie Surprised Us... The Other Just Needed to Relax

Some weekends you find a hidden gem.

Other weekends you find two movies that land somewhere in the middle for completely different reasons.

Joe and I recently checked out Netflix's Little Brother and 72 Hours. Neither is likely to be in the running for any major awards, but they each have something to offer depending on what you're looking for.

Little Brother (4/10)

I'll admit it...

This movie tested my patience.

From the opening scenes, Marcus immediately reminded me of Pauly Shore's Crawl from Son in Law. Instead of constantly talking about "semesters," Marcus has his running joke about his "16 foster homes." It's the same type of lovable oddball energy, but after a while the slapstick started wearing me down.

Unfortunately, the movie leans into that style a little too hard. Joke after joke felt forced, and more than once I caught myself just waiting for the story to move forward.

One thing that also kept nagging at me was Marcus' backstory. The movie mentions that he had bounced through sixteen foster homes, but never really explains why. It felt like there was a deeper story there that never got explored.

Then something unexpected happened.

The movie settled down.

Instead of forcing another over-the-top gag every few minutes, the comedy started working with the story instead of against it. Even a scene like breaking back into the mental hospital fit naturally into the plot instead of feeling like slapstick for the sake of slapstick.

The ending genuinely surprised both Joe and me.

It was heartfelt, funny in the right places, and somehow made us forget a lot of the frustration that came before it.

I'm honestly a little annoyed that I ended up liking the ending as much as I did.

Favorite character?

The billionaire big brother stole every scene he was in.

If you're looking for a movie that doesn't require a lot of thinking and you're okay with broad physical comedy, Little Brother is worth a watch.

Just don't expect the journey to be as satisfying as the destination.

72 Hours (5/10)

Compared to Little Brother, 72 Hours hooked me much faster.

The premise felt believable right away. Getting randomly added to a group chat? That's the kind of modern setup that immediately feels like it could happen to anyone.

One of the movie's biggest strengths is its cast.

These are comedians who are all funny in their own right, and it was refreshing seeing them work together outside of the Saturday NightLive ecosystem. They play off each other well, and that chemistry carries a lot of the movie.

Nick ended up being my favorite character, delivering some of the best one-liners in the film.

The comedy worked more often than it didn't, and the pacing kept things moving without ever dragging.

That said, one part didn't quite land for me.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but the movie's portrayal of forty-somethings felt oddly out of touch. Joe and I joke all the time about the internet meme that says being forty is weird. Some people our age are raising kids, some are buying houses and climbing the corporate ladder...

...and some of us are basically forty going on twenty-seven.

We're definitely in that last group.

So seeing Kevin Hart's character portrayed as so disconnected from younger people felt exaggerated enough that it pulled me out of the story a bit.

There were also a couple of moments where characters missed things that felt obvious. One example involved the underboss failing to recognize someone he'd already seen on security footage, which was hard to overlook.

The ending was fairly predictable, but not in a bad way.

The only thing Joe and I kept waiting for was Andy Garcia to show up one last time. We were convinced he'd make an appearance at the wedding with one final surprise.

Sadly...

No Andy.

Final Thoughts

Neither of these movies is going to redefine comedy.

Little Brother asks you to endure a lot of slapstick before rewarding you with a genuinely heartwarming ending.

72 Hours is the steadier watch. It's consistently entertaining, has a likable cast, and delivers enough laughs to justify the runtime, even if it's not especially memorable.

If I had to recommend just one?

I'd probably lean toward 72 Hours for the more consistent experience.

But if you're willing to put up with a rough first half, Little Brother might surprise you the way it surprised us.

Sometimes the movie you almost give up on is the one that leaves you smiling when the credits roll.