Coffee & Kareem
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): April 3, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 3, 2020
A funny action comedy that comes into your house in a good mood and gets the reaction it’s supposed to get: laughs. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 3, 2020
Slowly, but not always confidently, Dowse and Mack begin to upend obligations of the structure, play fast and loose with the limits of good taste and wind up with, while far from a comedic masterpiece, an enjoyably reckless piece of vulgar entertainment. Read full review
70
IGNMatt FowlerApr 3, 2020
Coffee & Kareem keeps it simple, short, and to the (ultra) violent point as a raunchy cop comedy with clever jokes, zany action, and fun chemistry between leads Ed Helms and young Terrence Little Gardenhigh. It's a small cast but everyone in it is pretty funny, and the director easily knows how to craft a compelling mismatched partner scenario. Read full review
68
PolygonKaren HanApr 4, 2020
The mash-up of tones is a tough one, as is the film’s central pairing, but it works just well enough. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandApr 3, 2020
While the film is understandably concerned with its titular characters — Ed Helms as straight-edge Detroit cop James Coffee, young star Terrence Little Gardenhigh as his plucky pre-teen foil Kareem — its real standouts are supporting talents like Gilpin and Taraji P. Henson, who end up holding together a film that perhaps should have focused on them instead (cutesy title to come). Read full review
50
Original-CinLiam LaceyApr 3, 2020
Clocking in at a brisk 88 minutes, Coffee & Kareem doesn't provide much comic relief, though it is a relief when it's over. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerApr 3, 2020
Bad plotting would be relegated to the realm of incidental if Coffee & Kareem were funnier—isn’t that always the way? Unfortunately, the movie spends a lot of time handing Helms underlined jokes, which he proceeds to underline again with his why-did-I-just-say-that delivery. Read full review
40
TheWrapSteve PondApr 3, 2020
It’s kind of a mess, a crazy balancing act that flails as often as it connects. Read full review
40
EmpireIan FreerApr 3, 2020
One’s a cop who can’t shoot straight! One’s a kid with a nose for trouble! Together… they lack the wit, thrills and rapport to deliver fun genre times. Read full review
40
Screen RantSandy SchaeferApr 3, 2020
Slapdash to a fault, Coffee & Kareem is an irreverent time-waster that can't make up its mind about whether it's sophomoric or subversive. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeApr 3, 2020
Shane Mack’s screenplay is not without laughs, but it is certainly lacking in prudence. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeApr 3, 2020
It’s a strange movie that can seem mildly interested in tackling bigger issues before swiftly backing down. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 3, 2020
It’s almost astonishing how unfunny this movie is, given the talents of primary cast members Ed Helms, Taraji P. Henson, Betty Gilpin and David Alan Grier. They’re all troupers and they dive headfirst into the material, but the dialogue they’re delivering and the situations they’re mired in make it impossible to wring even a smile, let alone a legitimate laugh, from the material. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comNick AllenApr 3, 2020
Coffee & Kareem is stock R-rated buddy-cop comedy shenanigans by way of cuteness, and it ain't "Stuber." Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 3, 2020
Making a film that feels two days long is not the same thing as making 48 Hrs. Read full review
25
Movie NationRoger MooreApr 3, 2020
There are a couple of laughs, generally not from the leads. And the gory mayhem, from “accidental” executions at the end of a torture session to what a grenade does to a human body, is played for giggles, too. Read full review
25
The Associated PressLindsey BahrApr 3, 2020
Your enjoyment of the new Netflix comedy Coffee & Kareem may depend on whether or not you find insanely vulgar middle schoolers funny. It’s not just cursing either. Oh no, this is a whole symphony of vulgarity that would make Seth Rogen blush. Read full review
20
The New York TimesKyle TurnerApr 2, 2020
The buddy cop movie genre is by all means worth interrogating as conversations around institutional racism and police brutality continue. But this film’s jabs are dull and sophomoric. Read full review
10
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 3, 2020
The movie is disturbingly reckless, needlessly brutal and deeply homophobic. Later attempts to wedge in a few nice moments between James and Kareem fall flat. Read full review
0
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 3, 2020
Helms, a master jester on The Office, seems to have forgotten everything he’s ever learned about comic timing to judge by fiasco. Since Coffee and Kareem also credits Helms as a producer, he has only himself to blame. Read full review
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