The Pickup (film)

Last updated

The Pickup
The Pickup 2025 poster.jpg
Release poster
Directed by Tim Story
Written by
  • Matt Mider
  • Kevin Burrows
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyLarry Blanford
Edited by Craig Alpert
Music by Christopher Lennertz
Production
companies
Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios (via Prime Video)
Release dates
  • July 27, 2025 (2025-07-27)(Los Angeles)
  • August 6, 2025 (2025-08-06)(United States)
Running time
94 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Pickup is a 2025 American heist action comedy film produced and directed by Tim Story and written by Matt Mider and Kevin Burrows. The film stars Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson, Eva Longoria, and Keke Palmer. The film was released by Amazon MGM Studios via Amazon Prime Video on August 6, 2025, and received generally negative reviews.

Contents

Plot

Russell Pierce, a veteran armored car driver nearing retirement, and Travis Stolly, a rookie who aspires to be a police officer, team up for the first time on duty. While on duty, criminal mastermind Zoe ambushes them with Banner and Miguel. During the intense chase and being outmatched, Russell attempts to surrender the money from the truck for their life but discovering that the supposed money they are transporting are full of contrabands. Banner and Miguel's car flips over during a car chase after Russel throws the money contained the dye packs at their cars, but Zoe ultimately manages to hijack the armored car. Travis recognizes Zoe, and remembers their one-night stand the evening before. She had gotten him drunk on their date, and he told her everything about his work and the schedule of his route. Assuming that Banner and Miguel are dead after both of their vehicles have violently crashed, Zoe asks Russell and Travis to cooperate with her and reveals that her goal wasn't to steal the money or the contrabands from the truck but to rob the armored vehicle itself as she needs an armored truck in a plan to take $60 million cash pickup from a casino.

Banner and Miguel survive the car accident. Unhappy that Zoe had abandoned them, they attempt to catch up with the armored car. Travis, feeling used by Zoe, still has feelings for her. Zoe confesses to Travis and Russel that several years ago, a fire broke out in the casino where her father worked as security guard. During the fire, the lockdown sequence was initiated to protect the money from catching fire but did not have manual overdrive for the personnel to get out to safety. Zoe's father sacrificed himself to hold the metal door for his co-workers to escape. Despite his heroism, the casino did not extend any compensation to her family for the faulty security system. The adult Zoe now plans to take the casino's money to get revenge. In front of the casino, Russell's wife Natalie finds him through mobile phone positioning, where she is taken hostage by Zoe and tied up in the car with Travis. As they approaching the vault, they encounter a photoshot of WWE Star Wrestler and Zoe lies to him that his rival is trashing him on the internet, causing him to leave the vault. Russell and Zoe successfully steal $60 million in cash from the casino. On their way out, the casino manager recognizes her and apologize for her father situation and blames the higher-ups for not compensating her father when they had a chance. The duo is then ambushed by Banner and Miguel. Banner takes Natalie hostage and chases Zoe, who drives away with the money; Russell and Travis accidentally ran over Miguel with an armored car. A large number of police officers chase them for the casino's money. Clark calls the duo to complain about the late delivery only to shock that they are being chased by the cops on live TV and Travis gives him the middle finger.

At a small airstrip, the armored car catches fire and explodes after a chase. Banner opens fire at Russell, Travis and Zoe but is knocked unconscious by Natalie. Russell reunites with Natalie, and Zoe says goodbye to Travis before leaving in a small plane she had prepared in advance. Afterwards, Russell and Travis are found not liable for the events by the police as they believe the duo are forced to do the robbery at gunpoint. Six months later, Travis becomes deputy sheriff and contacts Zoe who is now living in luxury in Bali. Meanwhile Russell, now retired, is running a bed and breakfast with Natalie. He receives a box of money from Travis and Zoe. A museum curator calls the armored car company to complain about a damaged piece.

Cast

Production

The film was greenlit by Amazon MGM Studios in March 2023 with Eddie Murphy attached to star. [2] Tim Story is directing and also producing the film, through his The Story Company. John Davis and John Fox also produce for Davis Entertainment. Eddie Murphy and Charisse Hewitt-Webster produce via Eddie Murphy Productions. [3]

In December 2023, Keke Palmer [4] and Pete Davidson joined the cast. [5] In February 2024, Andrew Dice Clay, Eva Longoria, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Jack Kesy and Marshawn Lynch joined the cast. [6] [7]

Principal photography began in Atlanta in April 2024. [8] On April 20, during second unit filming of an action scene, an accident happened in which an armored truck and a car collided, resulting in both vehicles rolling over and leaving several crew members injured. [8] [9]

Release

The Pickup was released by Amazon MGM Studios via Prime Video on August 6, 2025. [10]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 25% of 69 critics' reviews are positive.The website's consensus reads: "With Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson's comedic chemistry fatally unbalanced, it's left to a game Keke Palmer and Eva Longoria to pick up the slack as The Pickup puts down too little." [11] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [12]

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "swerves and jerks to a mildly satisfying conclusion. The film boasts a strong comic cast with Murphy, Davidson and Palmer at the lead. Their chemistry is naturally compelling, which helps us buy into their increasingly ridiculous situation." [13]

Christy Lemire of RogerEbert.com gave the film one out of four stars and wrote, "The Pickup is as generic and forgettable as its title suggests: a bland action-comedy that will surely end up being one of the year's worst movies, if only for the egregious way it squanders its talented cast." [14]

References

  1. "The Pickup". Amazon MGM Studios . Retrieved July 7, 2025.
  2. Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 29, 2023). "Amazon Studios Wins 'The Pick Up' Package in 7-Figure Deal; Eddie Murphy Eyeing Star Role & Tim Story to Direct Kevin Burrows-Matt Mider Spec". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  3. Fleming, Mike Jr. (December 14, 2023). "Pete Davidson Joins Eddie Murphy In Tim Story-Directed 'The Pickup' For Amazon MGM Studios". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  4. Kit, Borys (December 14, 2023). "Keke Palmer Joins Eddie Murphy in Amazon MGM Heist Comedy 'The Pickup' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  5. Booth, Ned (December 14, 2023). "'The Pickup': Pete Davidson Joins Eddie Murphy in Upcoming Heist Comedy for Amazon MGM". The Playlist . Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  6. Grobar, Matt (February 6, 2024). "Andrew Dice Clay Latest to Join Eddie Murphy in Amazon MGM's Heist Comedy 'The Pickup'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  7. Grobar, Matt (February 28, 2024). "Eva Longoria, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Jack Kesy & Marshawn Lynch Join Amazon MGM's 'The Pickup'". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Grobar, Matt (April 23, 2024). ""Several" Injuries In Accident On 2nd Unit Set Of Amazon MGM's 'The Pickup' Starring Eddie Murphy". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  9. Stevens, Matt (April 24, 2024). "Crew Members Were Ejected In Movie Set Crash, Police Say" . The New York Times . Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  10. Grobar, Matt (May 28, 2025). "Amazon MGM Unveils Premiere Date, First-Look Stills For Action Comedy 'The Pickup' Starring Eddie Murphy, Pete Davidson & Keke Palmer". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved May 28, 2025.
  11. "The Pickup". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  12. "The Pickup". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  13. Gyarkye, Lovia (August 4, 2025). "'The Pickup' Review: Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson's Lively Chemistry Helps Steady Amazon's Bumpy Heist Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  14. Lemire, Christy (August 2025). "The Pickup". RogerEbert.com . Retrieved August 7, 2025.