Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Playing with Fire Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't Ce(na) this movie.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 29, 2020

Playing with Fire blends the firefighting heroics of Only the Brave with the out-of-his-element caretaker charades of Uncle Buck and the result is as disastrous as one would expect. This is a terrible movie in every way imaginable, from the stale humor to the flat characters, from the predictable plot points to the lazy filmmaking. It may amuse small children but everyone else might very well spontaneously combust after five minutes.

Veteran smokejumper Jake Carson (John Cena) is hoping to be promoted with news of Commander Richards' (Dennis Haysbert) pending retirement. He's a lifer and he's dreamed of holding the position for as long as he can remember. He currnetly serves as superintendent of a small base, overseeing several men: the goofy Rodrigo Torres (John Leguizamo) who has a penchant for misquoting people, the burly and silent Axe (Tyler Mane, and the silly Mark Rogers (Keegan-Michael Key). He's also got an eye on local lady Amy Hicks (Judy Greer), an environmentalist who disapproves of some of the team's methods. When the team rescues three children from a burning cabin, the kids are taken back to the station to be kept there under the provisions of the “Safe Haven Law." The children -- Brynn (Brianna Hildebrand), Will (Christian Convery), and Zoey (Finley Rose Slater) -- claim their parents are out of town but are actually putting on a shrewd charade that Carson and his team cannot see through. The seven become quick friends and grow into family, but will the rigors of work and the letter of the law allow them to remain together?

Ugh. Need anything more be said? What a terrible, flat, uninspired movie. Andy Fickman has directed several films far superior to this, including Race to Witch Mountain and The Game Plan, but he's also helmed the miserable Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. Playing with Fire might be worse than Blart, if only because Cena just doesn't cut it in the lead. That's partially the script's doping, because Cena has proven in the past a modicum of acting skills beyond the wrestling ring. He gives no effort to the part, but in his defense it's an entirely undemanding role. He's not a good enough actor to better a poorly written script, and one can only wonder if Dwayne Johnson, with whom Fickamn worked on the aforementioned Witch Mountain and The Game Plan, might not have been able to save the film on charisma and chemistry alone.

Johnson, or any actor, would have their work cut out for them. The film is choppy, flows terribly, and looks staged rather than cinematic. There's no feel for connection between the screen and the audience: the film feels remarkably distant and inauthentic in appearance alone, never mind actual content. The gags are unfunny, the touching moments are few and far between, and the ending can be seen like a smoke signal from miles away. There's little good to be said of the film. The production design is OK, the kids are cute, and...that's about it for one of 2019's worst films.

Playing with Fire Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Playing with Fire at least looks quite good on Blu-ray. While the movie is visually uninspired from a production standpoint, the 1080p image showcases fine detail and color with great accuracy. The picture is clear and highly derailed, firm and fantastic in its ability to reveal pinpoint detail with superb definition. Skin textures are a highlight, showcasing pores with great intimacy, wrinkles with tangible depth, and hair with practically countable distinction. The entire production is razor-sharp and viewers would be hard-pressed to find even a hint of underlying softness. It's remarkably proficient. Colors are pleasing to the eye as well, particularly traditional firefighting colors like yellow and red. Every tone pops with highly impressive punch, stability, and depth. Contrast is dialed in so perfectly as to almost be boring. Skin tones and black levels are not at all problematic. Noise is virtually nonexistent and there's only a hint of banding at the 11:10 mark. Otherwise, this one's pretty much perfect.

Playing with Fire Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Playing with Fire's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless does well to deliver a hearty listen. The movie is largely dialogue intensive, focusing on the relationship between the smokejumpers and the children. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and nestles firmly in the front-center channel. Support elements are in good working order as well. Music plays with commendable width and some surround stretch. Clarity is quite good throughout. Ambient supports are few but effectively immersive and the action scenes that bookend the movie, with a few more brief elements in between, take advantage of the surrounds. Of note is a sequence when one of the children fires a flare gun through the station, which zooms through the stage with healthy spacing and directional detail. On the flip side, heavy falling rain minutes later remains firmly across the front channels, failing to truly immerse the listener into the scene. Overall, however, the presentation satisfies the movie's requirements.

Playing with Fire Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Playing with Fire's Blu-ray includes several deleted scenes, a blooper reel, and a handful of featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 14:43 total runtime): Included are Get This Depot Ready, Don't Take It Personal, You Should Be the Next Division Commander, Starboard Side, Let's Try This Again, We Gotta Find a Way Outta Here, Please Stop Crying, Is That Your Girlfriend?, You're a Real Hero, ATV Escape, Jalapeño Chocolate Cake, This is a FUPA, and I Got You Something Too.
• Bloopers (1080p, 2:33): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Storytime with John Cena (1080p, 1:27): Cena tells his own version of "Three Little Pigs."
• Lighting Up the Laughs (1080p, 3:05): A quick look at humor and tea parties on the set. Sadly, most of this behind-the-scenes content is funnier than anything in the movie.
• The Director's Diaries: Read by Star Cast (1080p, 5:05): Cena and Key read humorous "selections" from Director Andy Fickman's daily e-mails.
• What It Means to Be a Family (1080p, 4:32): A look at the movie's and cast's definitions of "family."
• The Real Smokejumpers: This Is Their Story (1080p, 2:34): In the best supplement, and the best thing on the disc, period, Cena introduces a short piece detailing the work and life of real smokejumpers.

Playing with Fire Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Playing with Fire was torched far and wide in the press, and its box office numbers didn't light up the charts, either. At its very best -- like those one or two fleeting scenes of passable humor and heart -- the film achieves a level of lukewarm success, but it is otherwise blazingly bad. Best to just douse this one from the memory banks altogether. Paramount's Blu-ray does deliver first-rate video and audio presentations and the studio has thrown a few supplements onto the disc as well which satisfy both the quantity and quality quotient for a film of this stature. Very young children might be fleetingly amused by the movie, but it earns a definite recommend to skip for everyone else.