Now streaming on Netflix is the teen coming-of-age comedy, Incoming. Written and directed by Dave and John Chernin, the movie stars Mason Thames, Ramon Reed, Raphael Alejandro, Bardia Seiri and Bobby Cannavale, and follows the story of a group of friends as they enter their first year of high school.
In the movie, Benji, Eddie, Connor, and ‘Koosh’ are all freshmen at Waymont High School. They’re young, they’re interested in girls, and they want to fit in.
At the end of their first week, ‘Koosh’’s brother hosts a party at his house which is set to be a huge social event. All four are excited and can’t wait to hang out with the opposite sex.
However, while Benji and Koosh are able to attend the party, Eddie and Connor go on a separate adventure involving a drunk partygoer. Once the night is over the friends reflect on their evening and move forward with their lives.
*Sigh…….*
If I was to write down a list of funny, engaging, monumental teen comedies, you’d expect American Pie, 10 Things About You, and Superbad to be on that list. Why? Because they are great films which are humorous and upon release they had an impact on the teen demographic they were aiming for.
And do you know what film you wouldn’t find on that same list? Incoming.
The reason for this is because Incoming is tedious, derivative tosh. The film is complete and utter rubbish which offers nothing new to the teen comedy sub-genre, is totally uninspiring, and it is dreadfully unfunny.
Worst of all, the film is monumentally dull and drags out its 90-minute runtime with a directionless story that just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on…
…and well, you get the point.
This film just exists. That’s all it does, it just exists.
From start to finish it moves at one level, it never says or does anything of any value, and it all seems pointless.
In the movie, Benji and Koosh go to a party, Eddie and Connor don’t, and as a result of their experiences they all metaphorically ‘grow’. That’s it.
That. Is. It.
With the exception of someone shitting themselves in a car, in a scene which isn’t funny but is at least notable, there is nothing else to report.
The cast do their best with the film, including Bobby Cannavale doing his utmost to bring laughs to his role as a hip science teacher, but these guys aren’t miracle workers. The material simply isn’t strong enough and that’s that.
And as Incoming is so uneventful and unimaginative, I can’t understand how younger audiences are meant to connect with the film or care about what is on offer. There’s certainly nothing here for the TikTok generation who want short, sharp bursts of fun and they deserve much, much better.
Jeez, if filmmakers want the next generation to remain interested in film, then they should make movies that will interest them. There’s nothing here for them.
As someone in their 40s, there’s also nothing here for me. If I wasn’t reviewing Incoming for the purposes of this blog, I would have bailed ten minutes in.
Anyway, I sat through it all and I don’t recommend you do the same. This is just pointless ‘content’ which serves no purpose but to fill a gap in time or add another title to Netflix’s ever-expanding forgettable portfolio of dross.
For a while now, Netflix has been churning out subpar, mid-level crap which is nothing more than background noise and Incoming is the latest example of this. It is a derivative film that does nothing, says nothing, and offers nothing, and while it looks fine and I guess you could call it ‘serviceable’, that’s the best that can be said about it.
Where is the imagination? Where is the flair and creativity? It’s certainly not here.
If you subscribe to Netflix then you and I are paying for films like this and unfortunately it is becoming more common. The best thing we can all do is just switch them off and convince the streaming service to try harder.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this review on It’s A Stampede!. For more reviews, check out the recommended reads below.
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