A game cast of funny people brings scant sparks to what is otherwise a Genuine Artificial Cinema Product.

Director Tyler Spindel’s track record is scattered, composed of primarily-for-streaming movies including The Wrong Missy and Father of the Year. He has an affinity for the David Spade experience, in other words. His latest, The Out-Laws, doesn’t feature Spade and doesn’t do much to suggest that Spindel’s body of work will ever grow more than scattered. 

The Out-Laws is fodder, content made to be dumped onto a streaming service and forgotten by all who’ve watched it. It follows an engaged couple, Owen (Adam Devine) and Parker (Nina Dobrev), as they deal with the re-introduction of Parker’s parents into their lives right before the wedding. Shockingly, said parents are, in fact, the Ghost Bandits, notorious bank robbers now indebted to a crime lord.

Regularly good actors Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin fill the paper-thin parental roles, trying to ooze cool into a decidedly uncool movie. But neither of them overcome the film’s script, penned by Ben Zazove and Evan Turner—a pile of gags and running jokes that largely turn on Devine’s comedic chops, which he’s proven across various much-better projects. But he and Dobrev are alone in their commitment. Dobrev gets nothing to do as Parker, a clueless yoga instructor. Her character consists of naught but air and quips, standing around so others can play off her—until, that is, she’s kidnapped, making space for the rest of the cast to—theoretically—have fun.  

The Out-Laws, a diversion at most, is streaming purgatory incarnate. It isn’t a movie to be devoured in one viewing, nor necessarily finished at all. Rather, it distracts for a moment and lets viewers let their minds wander while the screen is lit up, lulling senses into a daze at the end of the day. There is some value in that, providing entertainment for entertainment’s sake. The Out-Laws doesn’t offer much else, though.

The supporting cast delivers sparse but necessary and welcome laughs amid the desert of non-comedy. Richard Kind, Lauren Lapkus, and Lil Rel Howery pop up to crack jokes for a few minutes at a time. They’re playing service roles, performed well but underused and poorly written. Still, it’s fun to see them. 

The Out-Laws is currently streaming on Netflix. It’s one of many made-for-streaming movies that will have little to no impact on their service or viewers. It isn’t the first movie of its lot and certainly won’t be the last. 

The Out-Laws is now streaming on Netflix.

The Out-Laws Trailer: