Why Guns Up Is the Final Nail in Kevin James’s Action Career
On our podcast Adam Sandler Please Stop, we’ve spent years watching and reviewing every Adam Sandler films, and by extension, every Kevin James movie. We’ve seen the highs (Becky had promise), the lows (does anyone even remember Home Team?), and everything in between. But Kevin James’s latest outing, Guns Up, directed by Edward Drake, might just be one of the weakest entries in his career.
We spent nearly two hours breaking this movie apart. You can listen to the whole episode above or check us out wherever you listen to podcasts. Keep reading for our biggest takeaways.
A Mess of Clichés and HORRIBLE Writing
The official premise: Kevin James plays an ex-cop turned mob enforcer who wants to leave “the life” behind to open a diner with his wife (Christina Ricci). But one last job pulls him back in. If that sounds like every tired crime cliché you’ve ever seen, that’s because it is.
The film is stuffed with tropes: the “final job,” the “family in danger,” the “mob code,” and even the obligatory “flashback opening” that makes zero narrative sense . Instead of building tension, Guns Up feels like a grab bag of rejected John Wick leftovers, stitched together by a script so weak that the Writers Guild literally expelled its writer-director, Edward Drake, for working during the strike .
We would have rather listened to Kevin James explain the plot of Nobody, starring Bob Odenkirk, from memory than watch Kevin lazily sleepwalk his way through this thing.
Kevin James: An Action Star Without Action
In his comedies, James leans on slapstick and “charm” (the charm is stuttering and getting caught in lies). Strip that away, and Guns Up reveals just how little he brings to the table as a supposed action lead . He mostly stands still, shoots at nameless henchmen, and lets Christina Ricci carry the movie’s only half-decent fight sequences .
James tore his bicep during rehearsals for this film and that explains why he spends most of the movie looking stiff and exhausted. Compare that to Bob Odenkirk training his heart out for Nobody, and the difference in discipline and commitment is night and day.
Christina Ricci Deserved a Different Movie
Ricci, credited by us as “Casper Girl” throughout the podcast, is the only spark of energy here. She gets the film’s best action beats, including a scene where she wipes out a room of enemies single-handedly while James just stands around more like the King of Queens meme than an action star .
The problem? She’s shackled to an incoherent script that hides her abilities until a “twist” reveal. Her acting range is wasted on half-baked dialogue and bizarre family scenes (at one point, her character serves bread and raw tomatoes for dinner ).
Supporting Cast on Autopilot
Luis Guzmán is here, dagger cane and all , but his role is laughably underwritten. We’re pretty sure he only filmed in one or two locations for this thing and read his lines right before the camera started rolling. Joey Diaz, of Longest Yard fame, pops up for some mobster filler. The villains are one-dimensional caricatures: a cigar-smoking “alpha” and a vaping “beta cuck” who literally yells “safety’s on!” during a fight instead of just shooting .
Even Edward Drake, the writer-director, gives himself a cameo as a driver dressed like Ryan Gosling in Drive . It’s as if he knew no one else would make him look cool, so he had to do it himself. With that said, it’s probably the best scene and character in the whole movie.
The Action: Low-Energy and Low Stakes
For a movie called Guns Up, the action is mind-numbingly dull. Scenes drag as Kevin James throws knives from a butcher’s block at enemies standing one foot away . Gunfights are shot flatly, with zero creativity. And even the climactic showdown ends in ridiculous fashion—cars crash without hitting anything, villains die in illogical ways, and no one seems invested in the outcome .
The Final Verdict
Guns Up fails on every level:
As an action film: It’s slow, uninspired, and derivative.
As a Kevin James vehicle: It exposes his limits when humor is removed.
As a Christina Ricci comeback: It wastes her talents in a supporting role that should have been the lead.
As a story: It’s a patchwork of clichés with no heart or logic.
Ultimately, Guns Up feels less like a movie and more like a tax write-off destined for Tubi. If you’re curious about Kevin James as an action star, watch Becky instead. If you’re looking for a fun mob thriller, watch literally anything else.
