Grade (C)

Dumb fun, at times.

“TRUE MEMOIRS OF AN INTERNATIONAL ASSASSIN” is a Netflix original film that stars; Kevin James, Kim Coates, Andy Garcia, Zulay Henao, and is directed by Jeff Wadlow.

The story in this one follows a writer who gets pulled into a dangerous world of international criminals when his book about an assassin is published as non-fiction, and some very bad people think he really is the character he wrote about in his novel.

Now I think we can all agree that the “Paul Blart” films didn’t exactly kill it in terms of comedic delivery, or box-office return. Kevin James has thrived in the sitcom world and I can still enjoy “The King of Queens” today. His new show “Kevin Can Wait” is showing some mild promise, and with this new Netflix film I had some mild hopes, but very little expectations.

This turned out to be a very dumb film, but one with some fun in it as well. These dumb comedies are a sub-genre of their own, and if you’re in the mood for some brainless humor, and something to take you on a wild adventure, this film will deliver it, although it comes with some cheese.

The premise is creative, a writer who basically lives through the characters in his stories is suddenly put into one of them. It’s a simple plot, but one that does deliver some mindless entertainment. You can however see where this film will go long before it actually does, and despite seeing the character arcs well in advance, if dumb humor mixed with action is on the menu, this film will deliver doses of it.

There was some weak dialogue, but littered in were some jokes that land, as well as some lines and scenarios that rouse a chuckle or two. And to Kevin James credit, he put the work in for the physical acting and looked surprisingly capable in the action scenes. He has always been a physical actor and he pulled off what the role required of him. And to be honest the story may have been weak, but the action-sequences were much better than I had expected.

The characters were all generic and over exaggerated, but with some energetic performances from the cast, they make the most out of the routine scenarios. There were a couple entertaining cameos and enough eccentric personalities to pass the time, for a while. This brings up the major issue with this film, it just felt long. The entire premise was dumb, and there were some laughs, but there were also a lot of moments and jokes that don’t land, and after a while it wears out its welcome.

The story could have wrapped up much neater, much shorter, and with the third-act stretching things out you just get dumber and dumber humor and scenarios and it does drag. But in the end “True Memoirs of an International Assassin” was a turn-your-brain off action-comedy that had his moments. There is some fun in this film, there is also a lot of dumb scenes as well. If you don’t want to think about a plot or characters, this film is worth a shot, but nothing to rush out and see.

Time: 98 min
MPAA Rating: TV-14