''Playing with Fire'' is a 2019 American

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film directed by

Andy Fickman Andy Fickman is an American film director, film producer, screenwriter, television director, television producer, and theatre director. His credits as a theater director include the premiere of the ''Reefer Madness!'' musical, the first Los Angele ...

from a screenplay by Dan Ewen and Matt Lieberman based on a story by Ewen. The film stars

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied ...

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He co-created and co-starred alongside Jordan Peele in Comedy Central's sketch series ''Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) and co-starred in USA Netw ...

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (; ; born July 22, 196013:04) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced ...

Dennis Haysbert Dennis Dexter Haysbert (born June 2, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as baseball player Pedro Cerrano in the '' Major League'' film trilogy, Secret Service agent Tim Collin in the political thriller film '' Absolute Power'' ...

Brianna Hildebrand Brianna Caitlin Hildebrand (born August 14, 1996) is an American actress. She is best known for appearing as Negasonic Teenage Warhead in the films ''Deadpool'' (2016) and ''Deadpool 2'' (2018). She is also known for appearing in the web series ...

and Judy Greer, and follows a group of

smokejumper Smokejumpers are specially trained wildland firefighters who provide an initial attack response on remote wildland fires. They are inserted at the site of the fire by parachute. In addition to performing the initial attack on wildfires, they ...

s who must watch over three children who have been separated from their parents following an accident. The film was theatrically released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

on November 8, 2019, in the United States. It is the third

Walden Media Walden Media, LLC or Walden Media is an American film investor, distributor, and publishing company. Its films are based on children's literature, biographies or historical events, as well as documentaries and some original screenplays. The corpo ...

film from

Nickelodeon Movies Nickelodeon Movies is the film production arm of American children's network Nickelodeon and the family film distribution label of Paramount Pictures launched on February 25, 1995 and based in Los Angeles, California. The division has earned n ...

, after ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and hi ...

'' and ''

Dora and the Lost City of Gold ''Dora and the Lost City of Gold'' is a 2019 American adventure comedy film directed by James Bobin. It is a live-action adaptation of the Nick Jr. animated television series ''Dora the Explorer'' as well as the Nickelodeon animated series '' ...

'' (the latter was also released in 2019). The film grossed $68 million worldwide with a budget of $29 million, and received mostly negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Superintendent Jake Carson is the commanding officer of a group of

s in the remote California woodlands. Carson is capable in a crisis and takes tremendous pride in his work, diving into dangerous situations to rescue civilians alongside his team – overtly loyal Mark Rogers, nervy and neurotic Rodrigo Torres, and "Axe", a huge

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

who carries his fireman's pulaski everywhere. After rescuing three children from a burning cabin, Carson is contacted by Division Commander Richards. Richards praises his work and shortlists him to be his replacement, Carson's dream job. Rogers warns Carson they are responsible for the children's welfare (15-year-old Brynn, 10-year-old Will, and 3-year-old Zoey) under the "

Safe Haven Laws Safe-haven laws (also known in some states as "Baby Moses laws", in reference to the religious scripture) are statutes in the United States that decriminalize the leaving of unharmed infants with statutorily designated private persons so that ...

", requiring law enforcement and first responders to care for children until they are released to a parent or guardian. He leaves a voicemail for the children's mother who texts back saying that they are on their way. Carson's attempts to complete his application for division commander are undermined by the children running haywire around the station, and the arrival of his ex, environmental Doctor Amy Hicks, a local who protests the smokejumpers taking water from endangered toad habitats to fight fires. She refuses Carson's attempt to offload the children onto her. Despite the mayhem, the rest of the smokejumpers begin to bond with the children: toddler Zoey warms up to the brutish Axe and Torres teaches Will how to navigate dangerous situations. Brynn pays lip service to Rogers' admiration of Carson, then stages an escape on the station's ATV, spilling oil and slashing tires to prevent chase. Carson catches them by off-roading on a little girl's bike, cornering the children on a dirt road. Will prompts Brynn to admit they are orphans on the run from

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

, avoiding their separation. The text messages were from Brynn herself. The group camp out overnight and Carson promises to hold off calling

Child Services Child and family services is a government or non-profit organisation designed to better the well being of individuals who come from unfortunate situations, ''environmental'' or ''biological''. People who seek or are sought after to participate i ...

until after Zoey's birthday in two days. The group go all out preparing Zoey's birthday, and the four smokejumpers buy presents for Brynn and Will as well. Carson then tells Will a bedtime story about a

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

with the smokejumpers and their adopted children in attendance.

Cast

as Jake "Supe" Carson, the son of late Dan Carson *

as Mark Rogers *

as Rodrigo Torres *

as Brynn *

as Commander Richards * Judy Greer as Dr. Amy Hicks, Jake's love interest *

Tyler Mane Daryl Karolat (born December 8, 1966) is a Canadian character actor and retired professional wrestler, better known by the name Tyler Mane. He is known for playing Sabretooth in ''X-Men'', Ajax in ''Troy'', and Michael Myers in the remake of '' ...

as Axe **

Paul Potts Paul Potts (born 13 October 1970) is an English tenor. In 2007, he won the first series of ITV's ''Britain's Got Talent'' with his performance of " Nessun dorma", an aria from Puccini's opera ''Turandot''. As a singer of operatic pop music ...

as Axe's opera voice *

Christian Convery Christian Convery is a Canadian actor. He plays the role of Gus in the Netflix fantasy series '' Sweet Tooth''. Life and career Convery made his film debut in the romantic comedy ''Hearts of Spring'' by Marita Grabiak as Conner, released in Apr ...

as Will, Brynn's younger brother * Finley Rose Slater as Zoey, Brynn's younger sister *

Daniel Cudmore Daniel Cudmore (born January 20, 1981) is a Canadian actor and stuntman. He is perhaps best known for his roles as the superhero Peter Rasputin / Colossus in the ''X-Men'' film series, and as the Volturi Felix in ''The Twilight Saga'' film ser ...

as Burly Smoke Jumper #1 *

Tom Europe Tommy Europe (born July 27, 1970) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, stunt man, professional trainer and former professional Canadian football defensive back who played eleven seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at B ...

as Burly Smoke Jumper #2

Production

The film was announced in October 2018 when

was cast to star in the film.

was hired to direct the next month. By January 2019,

, Judy Greer,

, Edoardo Carfora, Christian Convery, and

joined the cast.

Rob Gronkowski Robert James Gronkowski (born May 14, 1989) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Nicknamed "Gronk", Gronkowski played nine seasons for the New England Patriots, then played h ...

was offered a role in the film but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts.

Joe Manganiello Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons of ...

was cast but was cut from the film. Filming began on February 4, 2019, in

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard ...

, and concluded on March 29. Visual effects and animation were done in post-production by

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pr ...

Release

The film was originally set to be released on March 20, 2020, but it was later moved up to November 8, 2019, taking over the original release date of ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers m ...

'', which was later delayed to February 14, 2020.

Reception

Box office

''Playing with Fire'' grossed $44.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $68.6 million. In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside '' Doctor Sleep'', '' Midway'' and ''

Last Christmas "Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records International, CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side and B-side, A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK ...

'', and was projected to gross $7–10 million from 3,125 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $3.6 million on its first day, including $500,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $12.8 million, beating projections, and also finishing third at the box office. In its second weekend the film made $8.6 million, finishing fourth behind ''

Ford v Ferrari ''Ford v Ferrari'' (titled ''Le Mans '66'' in some European countries) is a 2019 American sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christi ...

'', ''Midway'' and ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...

''.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of .

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 24 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...

gave it an average 2.5 out of 5 stars. Wendy Ide for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' gave the film one star, describing the premise as "beyond inept" and calling it "(a) late contender for the worst movie of the year".

References

External links

* {{Nickelodeon Movies 2019 films 2019 comedy films 2010s children's comedy films 2010s English-language films American children's comedy films Films about firefighting Films about wildfires Films directed by Andy Fickman Films scored by Nathan Wang Films set in California Films shot in British Columbia Nickelodeon Movies films Paramount Pictures films Paramount Players films Walden Media films 2010s American films