72 Hours review: Kevin Hart’s Netflix bachelor-party comedy gets dinged

Kevin Hart’s new Netflix comedy is taking a bruising in an early 72 Hours review, with Variety critic Todd Gilchrist calling the film a strained generation-gap romp that chases the spirit of The Hangover without landing enough jokes.

Published July 23, 2026, the review covers the R-rated, 105-minute movie directed by Tim Story, who previously worked with Hart on Ride Along. The film was written by Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider, and comes from a production team that includes Hart, Story, Will Packer, John Davis, Josh Heald, Luke Kelly-Clyne and Bryan Smiley.

Hart stars as Joe, a 40-year-old advertising executive who gets mistakenly included on a group text for a Miami bachelor party. According to Variety, Joe sees the mistake as a career opportunity after a younger colleague criticizes his vodka campaign, so he talks his way into the trip to better understand younger consumers.

The bachelor party belongs to Mason, played by Mason Gooding, with Marcello Hernández, Ben Marshall and Kam Patterson playing his friends Nick, Hunter and Freshman. Teyana Taylor plays Joe’s girlfriend Jennifer, who is hoping for a proposal of her own while Joe heads for South Beach.

Is 72 Hours worth watching?

Variety’s verdict is lukewarm: Gilchrist writes that the premise has promise, but says the movie does not draw enough comedy from the age gap between Hart’s character and the younger party crowd. The review argues that the film becomes too crowded with cocaine, bodily-fluid gags, a bachelorette-party subplot and a drug-lord storyline.

The setup sends Joe into a three-day Miami blowout, including a luxury Airbnb and a yacht party. Variety says the film’s trouble starts when Joe is forced to take cocaine, which unleashes an over-the-top alter ego and puts the group in conflict with a mysterious drug lord.

Gilchrist compares the movie’s structure to later descendants of The Hangover, where wild nights keep escalating into crime plots. His complaint is that 72 Hours treats that material more like a thriller engine than a joke machine, draining energy from what could have been a sharper comedy about an older man trying to fit in with younger friends.

The review is kinder to some of the cast. Hart is described as likable as Joe, though Variety says the role does not give him enough lived-in authority to make the character stand out. Hernández, in his second movie role, is called funny but underwritten, while Patterson is singled out as a performer who makes a stronger impression as the group’s resident fool.

Taylor also earns praise from Variety for bringing a grounded presence to a film the critic says does not match her level. The supporting cast includes Zach Cherry, Michael Mando, Kevin Dunn and Mike Epps.

Gilchrist ultimately places 72 Hours somewhere between Tim Story’s stronger and weaker work, saying it is not a total disaster but works too hard to announce its fun instead of generating it. For viewers searching for a breezy Netflix party comedy, Variety’s review suggests this one may leave more headache than payoff.

This story draws on original reporting from Variety.