THE DROP -- Baby Dropper

Review by Joseph Fayed

Image Courtesy of Hulu.

Hulu has released many vacation-themed comedies centering around couples in the past few years. Like its predecessors, The Drop centers around a seemingly ordinary couple who goes to a destination wedding with their friends, who are other couples who tend to be rather odd. They certainly play up how bizarre each of them is to make you cringe for 90 minutes. 

Lex (Anna Konkle) and Mani (Jermaine Fowler) are a married couple trying to have their first child together. They believe the perfect time to conceive is when attending the destination wedding of their friend. The trip quickly goes south when Lex accidentally drops the baby in front of the entire group of guests. The tone completely changes the wedding and exposes the feelings of those invited. 
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From the titular drop to how the rest of the shenanigans unfold, the film moves rather quickly. No scene runs on for too long. The scenes following the drop begin to showcase who the rest of the couples really are. There is the bohemian-style couple who greatly lack self-awareness, and then there is the narcissistic Hollywood couple along with their horny teenage son. While the film is clearly taking a jab at real-life couples like this, other than a few one-liners, none seem to go overboard with their portrayals. ​

Image Courtesy of Hulu

The funniest moments in the film come from its dialogue, not the actions of its main characters. The best jokes are made at the most unexpected moments. The dry humor takes place throughout the film, but none of the best bits are during times when the film is intended to get the most laughs. The rest of the highlights from this film tend to be situations where our protagonists feel extremely uncomfortable. The reaction shots these two deliver make up for the film's sour moments, even if Lex and Mani are not the funniest characters present. Their conclusion as a couple is a bit unsatisfying because it ultimately feels like we learned very little about them beyond the first or last 10 minutes of them. 

The Drop has its occasional funny moments, but a large part of this film pokes fun at its characters by having them point out their best attributes. Between all the self-praise being thrown at them are two protagonists who don't know much about themselves. And, of course, we don't learn too much about them, either. 

The Drop streams on Hulu beginning January 13.

Rating: 3/5