Unplugging (2022) User Reviews

VIEWS ON FILM review of Unplugging

[burlesonjesse5 · 5/10 · 15 September 2022]

You don't see much of Eva Longoria anymore and it's weird to view character actor Matt Walsh in a lead role. But here they are, playing a head-scratching married couple in 2022's Unplugging. Unplugging is a lightweight comedy whose tones are ambitious yet skewed. There are times when the film sort of turns into heavy-handed drama (I stress the words sort of). There are other times when Unplugging's setting suggests that it might become horror fare (I stress the word might). All of what's on screen is uneven but hey, the producers needed to expand more on a premise that feels airy and trivial (too much cell phone usage and bad cell reception are the dated topics).

So yeah, there's a reason why a flick like Unplugging was never gonna be released in theaters. I'm not talking about the COVID situation here, I'm talking about what Unplugging is well, about. I mean did we really need a movie about two spouses who take a weekend sabbatical because today's modern technology is getting in the way of their union? Not really. It doesn't carry enough weight, well maybe if Unplugging was in the form of a third quarter Super Bowl commercial.

Longoria and Walsh (as Unplugging's couple in Dan and Jeanine) are game in their performances because why not. They're probably glad to be working actors while collecting that almighty paycheck. If they were A-lister-s they wouldn't even touch this thing with a stick let alone be okay with the film's generic title. I give kudos to them and their commitment because otherwise Unplugging would be so nugatory it might just float away.

Look for Unplugging's road trip remnants, its mild slapstick antics, its drones (wha??), and its yokel characters encountered in the middle of nowhere (because cinema just has to have them). Unplugging is not as awful as I thought it would be but aside from projecting itself as a harmless time-waster, it's still mediocrity "unplugged".

A bit trite but not a total loss

[cekadah · 4/10 · 8 July 2022]

I plugged into this movie because Al Madrigal is listed in the cast. Well if you blink your eyes twice you'll completely miss his appearance in the movie.

Outside of that the movie isn't totally bad. Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh are just not plausible as a couple. And the gas station/store owner wasn't off his rocker enough to believe he was a paranoid/delusional as the characters Tim and Perkins are.

This flick will pass if you are seeking lite silly entertainment.

I have games on my phone

[nogodnomasters · 4/10 · 4 June 2022]

Dan (Matt Walsh) is a former branding advisor who now makes hot sauce in his garage. His desperate wife Jeanine (Eva Longoria) is a workaholic in commercial leasing. She is on her phone 24/7. Dan decides they need some time away from their devices and finds a vacation spot where people complain about having no service.

While there the couple gets to communicate with each other, but is constantly looking for bars, but only find Gil's. Lea Thompson revives her character from "Red Dawn" as she is now fighting the Chinese with her ton of conspiracy theories. She was the only well written character in the bunch. The film attempted to be funny but it stayed unconnected below the bar. Had potential. Script fell short.

Guide: F-word. Sex. No nudity.

The chicken was the best actress

[amytude · 2/10 · 30 April 2022]

She bawked , she flapped , she pecked at the ground. The chicken was great. Everything else was cheesy and stupid.

This tried so hard to be a slapstick comedy of errors and failed on every level.

Oh boy, this was a bad movie.

[flashfluidimdb · 2/10 · 1 May 2022]

I'd need to think about any part of it that I liked. You might find Eva Longoria attractive, you might like the basic idea (to disconnect from modern digital life), but there's nothing else.

The whole plot is simply silly. It's as if some kids made a movie about adults, and didn't know anything about.

I should have read the reviews

[stevedgrossman · 2/10 · 5 July 2022]

This movie is a complete and total waste of time. Don't watch it. You will be angry, frustrated, and want to break your TV.

I have to just come up with more words to say how I hate it.

Horrible. Just horrible

[gkmacca21 · 2/10 · 7 May 2022]

We watched this with fairly low expectations - we just wanted an amusing movie for a Friday night, and, after sifting through the various super hero franchise offerings, the teenage-oriented shack in the country horror movies, the elderly person's last hurrah movies and the range of action movies which still have Bruce Willis 'starring' even though he's barely in them, this was left.

It's unoriginal - several movies have already 'done' the digital detox theme. It's unlikeable - the set-up, focusing on someone who cannot stop texting and scrolling, just irritates: it goes on so long you just depise the character and want her off the screen.

Then the basic story begins and it's not really a story. It's forever trying, not very hard, to find a story.

A bit of a road movie, a bit of fish out of water movie, a bit of a small town eccentrics movie, but still no actual narrative. You keep expecting something to happen in a joined-up way, and it doesn't.

Worst of all, it's so desperately unfunny. It really is mind-bogglingly devoid of real humour. The chicken 'thing' epitomises how badly-written the whole thing is. They don't know what to do with the thing. The chicken symbolises the script. People just carry it for no reason.

What on earth did they think when they sat through this is the screening room? Shame, I hope. It's a depressing waste of time.

Unplugging

[Prismark10 · 1/10 · 1 May 2022]

Jeanine (Eva Longoria) and Dan (Matt Walsh) do a digital detox as they go for a short break away in the rural countryside.

However life without a mobile phone reception and working internet is not easy.

As they start their holiday they meet wacky locals such as a freaky conspiracy theorist nut and plagued by drones.

Jeanine is a workaholic who sends emails in the middle of the night. Dan has become a slacker playing video games and managing a micro hot sauce business from his garage.

The couple were hoping that time away would allow them to repair their relationship but they keep finding themselves in more ludicrous situations.

This comedy-thriller hybrid is a complete shambles. It as an incoherent and half baked script.

The acting is as lousy as the story.

Unplugging two plugged in fools

[verkk · 7/10 · 5 October 2022]

Yes, silly, but true enough about two people seeking to unplug from their devices and plug into their relationship. Loved seeing Eva Longoria in a non glamorous role still looking absolutely gorgeous and beijg funny. . And Matt Walsh playing the alpha mail that loss his alpha and got it back. Leah Thompson playing a backwoods conspiracy crazy was over the top. Loved watching Ozzie Smith again- such a long career. And they "Nailed It" with Nicole Byer as sheriff Margaret "Don't call me Margaret". I always love to watch her and her crazy personality. Don't overthink, just unplug. This is a good family movie. Nothing inappropriate, just fun.

Eva was the star

[danna21 · 4/10 · 19 October 2022]

Loved Eva's acting. Held the movie together. The writers sucked. Too much weirdness throughout. A few moments without any explanation. The ending was just ok. Guess the whole movie quietly was a dig at small town people and people that don't know how to use technology. The struggle of being married was the visual story. If not for a few good actors and Eva, this movie would have received 2 stars just because I didn't turn it off before the end.

Since imbd wants 600 chars for submitting a review, I will add that it was about 45min that I almost feel asleep if not for my wife sitting next to me.

An easy watch, I loved it. Maybe not for everyone... but in a way it is

[elizpien · 9/10 · 11 March 2024]

I really enjoyed this movie.

Maybe it's because I grew up in the woods, and then the city. Before cell phones .

This movie was simple and adventurous.

All the characters represented reminded me of people I already know in my life who struggle with the pace and addiction of technology while loosing sight of the joy that can come with being " in the moment ".

I'm glad I watched it.

I can see how viewers might be polarized by the lifestyles and predicament in this film. Perhaps people who live a slow life can't relate to the mentality of a workaholic who's out of touch and a tiktoking younger generation that gets by on social media would not appreciate or comprehend the concept of a simpler lifestyle.

I also enjoyed some of the metaphors like the drone in nature- natural environments being invaded by technology and it weird and out of place because it is.

I took that as commentary.

Not bad at all

[windsorenquirer · 6/10 · 5 May 2022]

It's a comedy, not a drama. It's funny and light. Maybe silly but entertaining. So to all these haters here... chill and relax.

It's not a blockbuster movie, it's not an oscar level (if it even means anything these days..), not serious in any way but in my opinion it's better than most so called comedies they make in recent times.

I wanted to Unplug my tv

[LizKenny-06763 · 1/10 · 10 November 2022]

This is the worst movie I've seen in years. I don't know who wrote it but I hope they find a new job. It's bizarre, neurotic, annoying, and just down right bad. I feel terrible that Eva Longoria was even in this movie. I can't imagine anyone that would want to watch a movie about an ugly, annoying, loser husband that some how got a beautiful, hardworking wife who he then traps in the barren wilderness to teach her some sort of lesson. I wanted to turn it off half way through but sadly I'm one of those people that commit to finishing a movie once I start it, unfortunately there was no redemption for the sad sack of a film. The only thing worse than the movie itself was the incredibly awkward and inappropriate sexual scenes that added absolutely nothing to the film but only subtracted the watcher to feelings of discomfort.

It was somewhat bland...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 7 May 2022]

I had the opportunity to sit down and watch the 2022 romantic comedy "Unplugging" here in 2022, and I did so without ever having heard anything about the movie. So I didn't have any expectations for writers Brad Morris and Matt Walsh here.

Well, I will say that director Debra Neil-Fisher managed to churn out a watchable movie with "Unplugging". And the writers did have some okay contents here and there throughout the course of the script. But the overall result of "Unplugging" wasn't really an outstanding movie. And truth be told, for a romantic comedy, then there wasn't really much of either of those two genres.

The storyline in "Unplugging" had potential for so much more than what it turned out to be. Sure, it was nice to see a couple trying to find themselves and their love again by putting the addictions of phones on the shelves by going on a romantic getaway where there was no cell service. But at the same time, then there just wasn't a whole lot of comedy here, so I wasn't finding any laughs. And there wasn't really a whole lot of on-screen chemistry between Matt Walsh and Eva Longoria either.

I am sure that there is an audience out there for a movie such as "Unplugging", no doubt about it. And yeah, I managed to sit through the movie to the very end, but I was only mildly entertained. And believe you me, this is not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time. And this is not a movie that I would recommend you sit down and watch if you enjoy a good old fashioned romantic comedy.

My rating of "Unplugging" lands on a four out ten stars; the movie had potential for accomplishing a lot more than what it delivered.

Unremarkable

[ThomasColquith · 5/10 · 22 September 2022]

I just watched "Unplugging" on streaming for free and found it to be decent free entertainment. I would not want to pay for it, but for free it is fine. Nothing too remarkable or memorable here but the lead actors give it their best I thought and the cinematography and settings were pleasant, which is all too rare these days in film. A few crude jokes and a few too many silly stereotypes about rural folk and hapless husbands hold this film back from being something better and deeper. But worth a watch if you are a fan of Eva Longoria or Matt Walsh. My rating: 5/10, clearly average entertainment.

Ok movie, kinda boring

[gapeach811 · 4/10 · 7 January 2023]

Decent acting but boring script. The leads are not believable as a couple. Eva Longoria has not aged a bit. Lea Thompson's role was strange. Tried to be a heartfelt comedy with a bit of a mystery but missed the mark. Pretty boring but not bad for background noise. One modest sex scene but kids don't need to see it. Some marijuana usage and a scene at a bar with heavy drinking. A few wild animals make brief appearances as pets.

I really like Eva and Lea but they needed better writers who were actually funny!

Movie did have a good message about needing to step away from technology to connect with nature and your partner.

Terribly boring and stupid

[sibyllelashley · 1/10 · 27 September 2022]

I didn't expect much but this was horrendous I had to fast forward many oh so unbelievable stupid scenes and the constant babbling of her was annoying as hell. Most scenes made zero sense like the drones .. I mean what was the point? Then that idiotic scene with the chicken , they acted like 5 year olds, the whole script was all over the place like the chicken. Total trash and a waste of time.

He was a whiny wuss and it was hard to believe the way she acted that she had a good paying job. I mean who gives a chicken aspirin for a broken leg and once the chicken was in the truck it walked just fine.