’72 Hours’ Review: Kevin Hart’s Bachelor Party Comedy Misses the Mark

Kevin Hart is back on Netflix with ’72 Hours,’ a comedy directed by Tim Story that throws a forty-something marketing executive into a three-day bachelor party after he mistakenly joins a group chat filled with twenty-somethings. This film reunites Hart with Story, the director behind the ‘Ride Along’ series, and features a young ensemble cast including Marcello Hernandez, Mason Gooding, Kam Patterson, and Ben Marshall. The premise suggests a classic culture clash comedy, with an older man trying to fit in with a generation that has little patience for his outdated ways.

The setup has potential. Hart portrays Joe, a vodka executive who misses out on a promotion because his bosses believe he can’t connect with younger consumers. He crashes a stranger’s bachelor weekend, hoping to gain content and credibility from the experience. There’s a clever idea lurking within about a man striving for relevance among people who never invited him, and the film occasionally touches on that tension in ways that resonate.

Unfortunately, ’72 Hours’ often veers off into louder and more chaotic detours instead of trusting its core idea. The film introduces a criminal subplot and a series of shock gags that distract from the more intriguing generational comedy that is right in front of it. Whenever the movie stumbles onto something worth exploring, it seems to lose interest and rushes towards the next loud moment.

Hart delivers a version of his familiar fast-talking, exasperated everyman persona, which has become somewhat stale and no longer carries scenes as effectively as it once did. The younger cast, however, shines. Hernandez brings a relaxed, authentic energy as the group’s reluctant leader, Gooding is charming as the groom genuinely excited about marriage, and both Patterson and Marshall find moments of depth that Hart’s character lacks. Their performances highlight that a sharper, funnier film could have emerged if the script had focused more on this ensemble rather than relying heavily on its star.

The humor varies widely, swinging from mildly amusing to awkwardly uncomfortable without much control. A recurring gag where Joe adopts exaggerated accents when high feels less like satire and more like the film forgot its own context, and even a character’s acknowledgment of it within the movie can’t redeem it. Additionally, a sleazy subplot involving a coworker’s hidden camera scheme adds nothing but discomfort, exemplifying how the film confuses provocation with wit.

Visually, the movie is competent yet forgettable, characterized by the flat, functional style that defines much of Netflix’s comedy output—bright locations with no real personality behind the camera. Christopher Lennertz’s score attempts to inject energy into scenes that the editing and pacing fail to support. While nothing is aggressively unattractive, the film lacks a distinct visual identity.

By the end of the three days, ’72 Hours’ returns to a neat, predictable resolution that undermines the edge the premise once had. The conclusion plays it safe, contradicting a film that expended so much effort trying to appear transgressive. It’s the kind of ending that suggests the movie was never entirely sure what it wanted to convey about age, relevance, or friendship, despite hinting at all three.

I left ’72 Hours’ wishing someone had trusted the smarter film lurking within this one instead of burying it under shock gags and a star performance on autopilot. The younger cast deserved a script that embraced their energy rather than continually redirecting it back to familiar Hart antics. While it’s watchable enough for a laid-back evening, it squanders a premise with genuine comic potential, making it more of a disappointment than a disaster. My score for ’72 Hours’ is 5 out of 10.

Have you streamed ’72 Hours’ yet, and did the generational culture clash resonate with you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.