Netflix’s 72 Hours follows an aging communications executive as he attempts to understand Gen Z

📺 Sometimes it’s hard to keep up, but not impossible. That’s the premise of Netflix’s latest original film, 72 Hours, starring comedy veteran Kevin Hart alongside new-gen comedians Mason Gooding, Ben Marshall, Marcello Hernández, and Kam Patterson — in addition to stars Teyana Taylor and Zach Cherry.

The plot: Joe (Hart) is a 40-year-old communications professional on the cusp of a major promotion… until he painfully fumbles a high-priority client pitch for failing to understand the client’s Gen Z audience. At the same time, Joe is mistakenly added to a bachelor party’s group chat.

Just when all seems lost, something clicks: What if he went to the three-day party, got to know the young groom and his friends (Gooding, Marshall, Hernández, Patterson), pick up on their interests and lingo, and present a new pitch along the way? While the Gen Z group is initially hesitant to include a 40-year-old stranger in their plans, they give in when Joe offers to foot the bill for the trip. All is well, until it isn’t.

What we liked: If you’ve watched at least one Kevin Hart movie, you know what to expect. The Jumanji and Ride Along star brings his A-game, and plenty of jokes land. With a 100-minute runtime, the movie doesn’t overstay its welcome, and the premise is both interesting and — to many professionals navigating the current business demographic — relevant.

What we didn’t: That said, the film does bite off more than it could (and should) chew. While plenty of jokes landed, the ones that didn’t left a sour taste. Beyond the initial plotline, the movie quickly veers into awkward, unrelated sequences as the characters’ adventures go haywire, with several subplots that took away airtime from an otherwise interesting premise that could have easily been expanded upon. The writers seemingly fell victim to their own plot, too, with some dialogue feeling less like Gen Z and more so like someone pretending to be.

The verdict: We’d say the 5.4/10 IMDb rating is fair. The movie has its highs and its low lows. If you’ve had a long day at work and could use a film that requires virtually no brain activity to keep up with, we’d say 72 Hours fits the bill. If an intelligent and nuanced movie is what you’re looking for, we’d say you might want to sit this one out.

WHERE TO WATCH IT- You can stream 72 Hours on Netflix. Watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:35).