'Incoming' Falls Flat on Delivery

         On August 23, 2024, Netflix released 'Incoming', which has received a negative reception from critics, currently holding at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "Mistakes will be made as four teenage boys navigate a night of mayhem and debauchery." The ensemble cast includes Ramon Reed, Mason Thames, Raphael Alejandro, Kaitlin Olson, and Isabella Ferreira. But what did the critics say?

        Nate Adams of The Only Critic says, "There’s no Micheal Cera, Jonah Hill, or Christoper Mintz-Plasse to sooth over the rough patches of a movie that is just an amalgamation of countless R-rated comedies before it." Adding, "Here, the Chernin brothers play the greatest hits where, as a passive watch or as background noise for a “Netflix & Chill” session, is serviceable, but slight. Worse, it doesn’t help advance the case for evolving the R-rated comedy and trying to make them more than just streaming content. Several years ago, while the iron was still hot, a movie like “Incoming,” with better resources, would have fared better with stronger actors, and a script that could tastefully balance the sex comedy elements with stronger themes of friendship and bromance."

        John Serba of Decider writes, "There are a few instances of viable comedy – a clever line here, a passing bit there – but ultimately, the laugh-to-nausea ratio is way out of whack." Continuing, " I have yet to mention Kaitlin Olson’s role as Benj’s mother; the veteran funnylady scores the biggest laugh here with a single line during an outraged-parent bit. It’s so inspired, you’ll be sad Olson isn’t prominently featured here (she has two, maybe three scenes?). Too bad you have to gut out the endless hellish torment of the diarrhea subplot in order to get to it – something that might inspire you to lunge at the power button on your remote like Ali to Frazier."

      Archi Sengupta of LeisureByte.com notes, "Considering the comedy is so taxing to watch, all the plots in the film get extremely old very quickly, leaving you to witness this embarrassing display of insanity that has neither nuance nor any idea about where to draw the line. Jokes go on forever and repeat themselves constantly, leaving you to wonder what exactly was funny in the first place. Benj and Bailey’s “relationship” doesn’t create anything lovely either and thus you don’t feel drawn to the love story much. Plus, it doesn’t help that the plot is just so old that you know exactly what’s about to happen here."

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

           Adrian Horton of Guardian also was unimpressed, stating, "Though Incoming has a decent handle on the raucous momentum of a high school party and the crass dialect of freshman boys, the film has the consistently distracting sheen of a made-for-streaming film, making for cheap comparison to its inspirations." Noting, "The over-reliance on poop jokes for half the movie admittedly burned through much of my goodwill, though not all of it. When the kids are not having an all-out brawl, attempting to scheme drug deals or enduring a literal shit storm, little moments of chemistry, particularly between an appealing Thames and believably cool Ferreira, allow the movie to not feel like a writing exercise for an R-rating. The Chernins are savvy enough to not wrap the whole thing in a neat “just be yourself” bow in the end, but Incoming could have worn a little more of its heart on its sleeve."