‘The Pickup’ Review: Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson’s Odd-Couple Energy Drives Amazon’s Bumpy Heist Ride

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Aug 8

Murphy, Davidson, and Palmer keep the energy high and the laughs coming—even when the road ahead gets rocky

For decades, Eddie Murphy has thrived on pairing up with a partner who can keep pace with his rapid-fire wit. From Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs. to Owen Wilson in I Spy, Murphy has a knack for finding the right comedic foil to push and pull against. In Amazon MGM’s The Pickup, that role falls to Pete Davidson — a performer whose own career has pivoted between stand-up rawness and oddball supporting turns in big-screen comedies. It’s an unlikely pairing on paper, but on screen, the two share an unpredictable, shaggy chemistry that gives director Tim Story’s latest heist caper its best moments. Unfortunately, that same energy can’t quite keep the movie from veering off course.

The setup is pure genre comfort food: Murphy’s Russ is a veteran armored truck driver who just wants to make it home for his wedding anniversary dinner with his wife Natalie (Eva Longoria). Davidson’s Travis is the jittery rookie stuck riding shotgun — the type of guy who mistakes a friendly customer’s gesture for an armed robbery, then draws his weapon in a full-blown panic. When these two get assigned a route that should be routine, it quickly becomes anything but.

The shift happens when a team of masked robbers forces them into an impossible choice: hand over the cash and live, or fight back and risk everything. What follows is a series of zig-zagging turns that blends buddy comedy banter with bursts of over-the-top action. Tires are shredded, paint bombs explode, cars crash in fiery bursts — and in the middle of it all, Murphy and Davidson bicker, plot, and try to stay alive.

What makes this first act click is the sheer fun of watching these two wildly different energies bounce off each other. Murphy plays Russ with a weary, seen-it-all confidence, punctuated by flashes of physical comedy that remind you just how good he is at making a small moment feel big. Davidson, by contrast, leans into Travis’s uncertainty and eagerness to prove himself, sometimes to the point of absurdity. It’s the kind of pairing that keeps the dialogue alive even when the plot mechanics are shaky.

The real wildcard, however, is Keke Palmer’s Zoe — a charismatic stranger who turns out to be one of the masked robbers. Her introduction shifts the movie’s dynamic from a two-hander into a loose trio. Palmer’s role could have been a stock antagonist, but she brings a layered charm that keeps you guessing about her true motives. There’s an undeniable spark between her and Davidson, rooted in a backstory that gets teased out over the film’s middle stretch.

Story, best known for Barbershop, Ride Along, and most recently The Blackening, has an easy handle on ensemble comedy, and he stages several sequences here that feel like they belong in a looser, more improv-friendly movie. But The Pickup isn’t quite sure if it wants to be a throwback buddy comedy, a slick heist thriller, or a satire on working-class struggle. As a result, the tone lurches between high-energy set pieces and quieter character beats that sometimes stall the momentum.

Once Zoe flips from adversary to uneasy ally, the crew’s mission expands: a high-stakes plan to rob a casino in Atlantic City. This is where The Pickup starts to feel less like a straightforward heist movie and more like a road comedy with criminal undertones. The drive through New Jersey offers a few inspired beats — a tense diner stop, an impromptu disguise montage — but it also exposes the movie’s thin plotting. Too often, the stakes feel soft, and the obstacles feel like detours rather than real threats.

That said, individual moments still land. A mid-film escape sequence involving a convoy of motorcycles and an overpass is as fun as anything Story has staged in years. And when Longoria’s Natalie gets pulled into the chaos, the film gains a welcome shot of adrenaline. Longoria, who spends much of the early runtime on the sidelines, makes the most of her late-game entrance with a mix of sharp comedic timing and unexpected action chops. Her scenes with Murphy bring a lived-in warmth to the relationship, making their marriage feel like more than just a plot device.

It’s also worth noting the visual polish that cinematographer Larry Blanford brings to the table. Action-comedy can be visually flat if the camera is just there to record gags, but Blanford frames the chases and fight scenes with a sense of geography that keeps the viewer oriented. Christopher Lennertz’s score matches the film’s shifts in tone — playful when the banter is flowing, then ratcheting up to something tenser for the set pieces.

Still, for all its technical competence and bursts of personality, The Pickup can’t fully escape its own structural limitations. The script by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider (The Package, Gentleman Lobsters) has clever moments but relies on a formula that becomes predictable in the back half. There’s a tendency to lean on running jokes — Travis’s lack of nerve, Russ’s crankiness — that lose punch with repetition. And while Murphy and Davidson do a lot to keep the rhythm lively, the pacing often feels like a car that can’t quite get out of second gear.

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Where The Pickup does succeed is in the smaller interactions. A scene where Russ quietly teaches Travis how to read the signs of a setup in a convenience store is as compelling as any of the larger set pieces. Likewise, Zoe’s private moment of doubt — debating whether to stick with her crew or break away — adds depth to what could have been a one-note role. These moments hint at a sharper, more character-driven film lurking inside the louder, broader one we get.

In the end, The Pickup lands somewhere between a satisfying weekend streamer and a missed opportunity. It’s fun in the moment, buoyed by its cast’s natural chemistry, but it doesn’t quite have the lasting punch of Murphy’s best pairings or the narrative tightness of a great heist comedy. Fans of the stars will find enough here to justify a watch, especially if they’re in the mood for something breezy. But like the armored truck at the heart of its plot, the movie carries a lot of weight it can’t always maneuver smoothly.