Playing with Fire Review and Discussion Questions
Know Before You Go:
Movie: Playing with Fire
Rating: PG
Age Suggestion: 5+ (might bore the younger audience a bit)
Running Time: 1 hour 36 mins
Release Date: November 8th, 2019
Stars: 3 out of 5
Themes: Family, bravery, duty, fun
Warnings: This is a solid family comedy- nothing terribly offensive or scary, if your kid can handle the preview then they can handle the movie **HOWEVER we want to give a strong warning to adoptive/foster families and guardians of kiddos who have experienced parental separation or death trauma**
Quick Summary:
The fire jumpers are serious guys, well- until you walk in on them partying after a successful job. Rescuing three kids from a burning cabin is going to throw a wrench, or ax as it may be, into their perfect routines.
A truly fun winter family comedy. Little ones might be bored in places but this is a cheesy, fun watch for the whole family.
Warning: SPOILERS beyond this point
Movie Discussion Questions:
1) What’s your family plan in case of a fire?
2) What was the funniest part to you?
3) If you had to make up a bedtime story on the spot- what would it be?
4) Which character was your favorite and why?
5) What’s your favorite cheesy family movie?
Playing with Fire parent Review:
*****SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT*****
Characters & Acting:
-This movie is a cheesy family comedy. The characters are fun and you shouldn’t be expecting a magical amount of chemistry or character development. The fire jumpers fight fires without masks, everything wraps up in five minutes, etc…
-I really enjoyed the extra cheesy characters though, and there were laughs in all the right places.
Script & Story:
-Again, go in with the expectation that this is a fun, cheesy, family movie and you should enjoy the story.
-The storyline gives you lots of laughs, pulls on your heartstrings and then spits you back out at the end with a smile on your face. It does so without a lot of character or story development (although there are a couple of good twists!)
*The only thing that bothered me about the story was that the kids were in the foster system and ran away because they were going to be split up. It was just used as a sad story element to liven up the plot and then, of course, it was all fixed in the last five minutes. I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie and absolutely will watch it again, but will I watch it with my adopted kiddo? Probably not. Another note for trauma parents- the kids parents dying is only really brought up once*
Film Quality:
– For a cheesy family comedy, the shots are really well done. There was nothing about the film that distracted me from the movie and there were a couple of times that the views were really cool.
Favorite Moments:
-Everything about how they involved My Little Pony.
-The firejumpers dealing with teen attitude and a toddler.
-That the kids did something for the captain by fixing up his old piano.
Rent it here on Prime Video
What to check out next:
-If you enjoyed this family movie review you might enjoy our reviews of Jumanji 2, The Addams Family, Descendants 3, Lion King, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin.
-If you want to check out another great movie that deals with adoption in a little more of a realistic way, check out our review of Instant Family.
*Not everyone can adopt, not everyone can mentor but everyone can do something to care for kiddos that find themselves in foster care and to support foster parents. From something as simple as donating your old clothes to a foster closet to something like babysitting or baking- there are a million ways to get involved.
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What did you enjoy more? Seeing Jake wear a My Little Ponies shirt, the toddler taming the dog, or Axe singing?