Review | Coffee & Kareem - Future of the Force

Thomas grabbed a bag of popcorn for a hilarious night in with Coffee & Kareem

In these difficult times of lockdown and quarantine due to COVID-19, Netflix is offering us a brand new comedy which is more than welcome! Coffee & Kareem is directed by Michael Dowse and written by Shane Mack, starring Ed Helmes, Terrence Little Gardenhigh, Taraji P. Henson, Betty Gilpin, Ron Reaco Lee, King Bach, and David Alan Grier.

Coffee & Kareem | Netflix

Here’s the synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Kareem Manning hires a criminal to scare his mom’s new boyfriend -police officer James Coffee – but it backfires, forcing Coffee and Kareem to team up to save themselves from Detroit’s most ruthless drug kingpin.

I think it arrives just at the right time, we all need a good laugh and this movie is hilarious! I laughed the whole time. It’s not going to be the type of film that everyone likes because it is a certain type of comedy but for people who love this type, you’re gonna love it! Coffee & Kareem is the crazy type of movie, it’s the Seth Rogen comedies meet The Naked Gun movies. This gives you a little idea of what to expect – a lot of insanity and craziness, you’re in for a wild ride!

There’s a lot of bad words in it, probably even more than in Good Boys, it’s totally unrestrained. There are even some gruesome visuals when a character explodes because of a grenade. Let’s not forget that it’s not just a comedy, there’s also action in it! In terms of action, it starts slow and goes crescendo as the plot unravels up to the final confrontation with the drug dealers. It’s an action-packed funny confrontation!

Coffee played by Ed Helms (The Office) is the incompetent cop who’s the laughing stock of the Police department while contrast you have Detective Watts played by Betty Gilpin (Glow) who’s the crème de la crème of the Police. Coffee is the equivalent of Frank Drebin from The Naked Gun movies, he is an incompetent idiot who says a lot of inappropriate things but he is the one who actually succeeds and it’s one of the reasons it makes it so funny.

We all know Ed Helms has a talent for comedy and he just nails it in this movie once again! He can go from the good cop to the bad-tempered cop in an instant. There is one scene, in particular, I want to mention for his performance. It’s when he is interrogating Orlando Johnson (played by RonReaco Lee), it’s just so surprising the way it goes and it’s top acting from Helms but also from Lee who probably had to resist a lot not to laugh at this! As I previously said with Watts, you have the crème de la crème of the Police but appearances can be deceiving and Watts is one very deranged character! Gilpin pulls out a very entertaining performance.

Taraji P. Henson doesn’t have a big presence on screen but when she is there, she’s flat-out, she is a scene-stealer! You gotta love it! She plays Coffee’s love interest and Kareem’s mother but she is actually the most competent one out of our group of characters. Terrence Little Gardenhigh plays Kareem, a kid who dreams to be a rapper so yeah, he’s the one who has the biggest number of bad words to say. Compared to Coffee with whom he is forced to team up after they’re both chased by the drug dealers, he is definitely more sure of himself and that makes a pretty good duo – the incompetent cop and the kid who’s too sure of himself.

With this type of comedy, you don’t expect super layered complicated plots, you expect something simple but efficient and mostly crazy and it’s exactly what this one is.

Final Thoughts:

3.5/5 Coffee & Kareem is a hilarious movie, completely insane, it’s Seth Rogen meets The Naked Gun movies.

Coffee & Kareem is available to stream on Netflix NOW!

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Thomas Storai is the Senior Collectables Correspondent for Future of the Force. He is passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and a wide range of movies. Follow him on Twitter @ThomasStorai where he uses the force frequently!

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