From running school talent shows and hosting PTA meetings, “Super Dad” Sonny Fischer (Kevin Hart), is doing so much for his family. Little did he know his wife Maya (Regina Hall) taking their two kids on a vacation for the weekend could lead to a crazy outcome. 

Released in August of 2022, “Me Time” follows Sonny Fischer as he takes on the life of parenting while trying to keep his life up with having some fun.

To kick off the film, Sonny is shown providing for his two children by preparing them for school and taking them as well. The film uses modern day stereotypes to portray Sonny as the “stay at home dad” while Maya is the working mom who is never really around for the children. Maya begins to realize it’s hurting her relationship with her children and decides to take a trip to her parents’ house with only the kids for the weekend.

 Co-starring with him was Huck (Mark Wahlberg). Huck is Sonny’s old best friend. They used to do crazy things together like sky dive and other events for Huck’s birthdays. Being out of touch for a while, Huck decides to call Sonny for his 44th birthday; sort of a reunion for the two. Initially, Sonny thinks “there is no chance of hanging out with him again. “I always make bad decisions when I’m with him”. But while a dad at the school comments that Sonny doesn’t “get loose” enough, he changes his mind.

After Sonny and Huck reunite, Sonny begins to see Huck hasn’t changed at all. When Huck is chased down because he owes a $47,000 debt, Sonny pays the price by getting his fingers smashed as punishment. The large campsite they are using for the party is burnt down to a smoldering pile of ash by Dorit’s (Shira Gross) fire gun as retaliation as well.

While Sonny was out at the party, he calls to check on his wife and sees she is with her business partner Armando Zavala (Luis Gerado Mendez).  He is with her checking out the island. Sonny immediately thinks she’s lying and goes to get revenge at Armando’s house with Huck. Partaking in harmless acts like dumping out spices and herbs and running around messing things up, Sonny finally gets the thrill of life he has been looking for and decides to move the crashed party to his house.

Unexpectedly Huck had posted the address on his Instagram story so when they arrive, they are greeted by more guests than Sonny expected.  When the party gets moved to the backyard, Sonny is surprised to see his favorite musical guest Seal and they team up for a duet. Right after he finishes singing, he sees his daughter appear home. His whole family sees what has happened to the house and his son Dashiell (Che Tafari) sees his million-piece Lego death star had been destroyed. Maya decides to take the children and stay in a hotel. This is a turning point in the movie as Sonny starts to see Huck’s bad influence on his life. He decides to tell Huck to stay away and Huck returns the $47,000. Sonny then goes to live with a friend he had just met at the party where he tries to figure things out.

At the end of the movie, Sonny is hosting the long-awaited talent show.  He books his son to play the keyboard for the closing act but as his son gets up on stage, he forgets how to play his song because he hadn’t practiced. Sonny wanted his son to be just like him and be successful, but when he saw Dashiell get up there and struggle, he realized he wanted him to be what he wanted to be.

Sonny gave a heartwarming speech to gain back the love of his wife and children.  Afterward, he allowed the kids he previously cut from the show to go up and show their talent. This angle of gratitude and caring convinced Maya to forgive Sonny. Sonny decided to put his and Huck’s differences aside and use their similar skill set to start a party business for little kids.  This would allow Huck to pay his debt back in full and live out a great friendship. 

All in all, this movie had its ups and downs and portrayed a good character arc throughout. It contained decent jokes and an enjoyable all-around plot.  It showed real life examples on how to have fun without ruining your life or making bad decisions. I really enjoyed how the movie ended but I wish there was overall more action and attention-grabbing moments throughout the movie.  I would recommend this movie more to younger audiences as it is more of their range of comedy and adventure. Given an awful score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, “Me Time” was graded as one of the worst movies of the year so far.

2/5