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Movie Review – Unplugging (2022)

April 18, 2022 by Robert Kojder

Unplugging , 2022.

Directed by Debra Neil-Fisher. Starring Eva Longoria, Matt Walsh, Nicole Byer, Al Madrigal, Lea Thompson, Keith David, Skylar Gray, Kevin Wayne, Johnny Pemberton, Nancy Friedrich, and Brad Morris.

Think a rustic getaway with no cell service, Internet or social media is a romantic way to repair your marriage and sex life? Think again. Meet Dan and Jeanine Dewerson. The only spark in their bedroom is from the wall socket. Their daughter’s best friend is her iPad. Dan’s not going to take it anymore and plans a quiet, relaxing weekend in a remote mountain town. No kids, no phones, no social media, only clean fresh air and lots of romance. But what starts as the perfect weekend quickly becomes disastrous with unearthly encounters, strong edibles, cranky locals, and a pesky one-eyed dog. Without GPS to guide them or social media to stave off their boredom, Dan and Jeanine are forced to reconnect with each other. Can a “digital detox” really save their marriage and their sanity?

It only took about ten minutes before I wanted to unplug my Internet while watching Unplugging . Directed by Debra Neil-Fisher, with Brad Morris and Matt Walsh (one of the film’s co-leads) handling the script, everything about this comedy-thriller hybrid frequently feels like it has no idea what it wants to be, ensuring nearly all of it falls flat. There’s a sense that the writers are pushing back against one another, with one opting for a more grounded approach to finding a balance between technology usage. In contrast, the other wants to embrace the mysterious elements at play but has been refrained from pushing the proceedings into the more ludicrous tone it badly needs.

Dan and Jeanine Dewerson (played by Matt Walsh and Eva Longoria, respectively) are somewhat happily married to a young daughter Elizabeth (Hala Finley). She works in advertising, and he has a floundering career as a hot sauce entrepreneur. Both struggle with screen time; she is chronically online, sending business emails during the night, whereas he has lost all motivation and can’t even muster up the energy to respond to a job proposition. Amusingly, he spends his alone time playing Sea of Thieves , the ridiculously hyped Microsoft exclusive that bombed right out of the gate because, after about three hours of playing the game, players had seen everything there was to do, and so the game quickly became repetitive and boring. That game and Unplugging seem to have something in common.

Following the unexpected death of Dan’s friendly UPS contact Juan (Al Madrigal), who had been preaching communication and reconnection with the world at large, and a two-week sabbatical given to Jeanine for a combination of overworking herself and creating some ghastly digital greeting cards, they depart from Chicago to a remote cabin somewhere in Indiana to work on various problems (grandma watches over Elizabeth). Some strange locals and unexplainable occurrences also crop up, ranging from a crazed conspiracy theorist played by Lea Thompson and inexplicably fried electronics. Whether it’s intended to be suspenseful or not, there’s no exciting reveal behind it.

However, there are plenty of embarrassing attempts at comedy (at one point, a character must wear a tampon as a bandage) that don’t work because the script and direction are too busy trying to play most of this straight when it needs to lean into the ludicrous parts. Even gags that could potentially lead somewhere funny (during a moment of trying to rekindle some sexual intimacy, Dan gets his head stuck pinned up against the car steering wheel while attempting to pleasure Jeanine as she commandeers the vehicle) never take off or elevate into wacky hijinks. Other moments fall back on tired tropes such as drug trips and temporarily going separate ways. Even a cut-off voicemail suggesting that their daughter could be in the hospital for something dangerous feels cheap and lazy. Then some bits go nowhere, like Dan becoming a skunk owner.

Making this all the more painful to sit through is a lack of chemistry from the leads, although Eva Longoria is trying and far and away the only decent aspect here. There’s nothing funny or surprising about Unplugging as it lumbers along, delivering its no-brainer, cliché digital age message.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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Unplugging review – Eva Longoria is relaxed in phone-addict detox relationship comedy

Two urbanite screen obsessives head to the countryside to cure their digital addictions in this social-issue yarn that is light on the laughs

T he title of this relationship comedy refers to a digital detox; but, watching it, the only unplugging you might be tempted to do is yanking the plug out of the mains socket. It’s an almost entirely unfunny comedy from Debra Neil-Fisher, who edited the Hangover movies and makes her directing debut lumbered with a stinker of a script; it’s not smart enough to work as a grownup relationship movie, and laughs are too few for a proper comedy.

To be fair, there’s a relaxed chemistry between Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh playing husband and wife: she plays workaholic control freak Jeanine who does something high up in property development while her husband Dan (played by Walsh) recently quit his career in marketing to start an artisanal chilli sauce business in their garage. Both are permanently glued to their phones.

In an attempt to “reconnect” with each other, Dan books a weekend getaway to the sticks. Naturally, the couple encounter the usual lineup of countryside wackos, including an oddball survivalist and a grunting redneck who runs them off his land with a rifle. To add to their woes, the town has zero phone reception – the survivalist has a conspiracy theory about that involving the Chinese government and local drone activity. The sheer number of scenes of Jeanine and Dan waggling their phones in the air may have you screaming in irritation.

If some of the comedy sticks, it’s mostly down to Longoria and Walsh’s easygoing performances. And, OK, there are a couple of funny lines. Still, this is a mostly laugh-free zone – hitting a low point in a scene where Longoria’s Jeanine accidentally breaks the leg of a farmyard chicken and dribbles an aspirin-and-water formula into its beak like a momma bird. And apart from the odd prickle of ashamed recognition watching the pair’s existential panic in a world without wifi, there’s not much here that’s particularly insightful about phone addiction either.

• Comedy films
• Drama films
• Relationships

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2022, R, 94 min. Directed by Deborah Neil-Fisher. Starring Eva Longoria, Lea Thompson, Matt Walsh, Keith David, Hala Finley, Johnny Pemberton, Al Madrigal, Gail Cronauer.

Reviewed by marc savlov , fri., april 22, 2022.

Shot during the course of the pandemic without specifically commenting on it outright, The Hangover series editor Neil-Fisher’s feature debut attempts to comment on a growing societal dysfunction afflicting hundreds of millions of adults and kiddos alike: Too much time spent staring at our subversive little black mirrors is unhealthy. Whether in the name of our already stressy and out-of-whack work-life ratios or by simply deep-diving into the rabbit hole of Wikipedia for just a moment that magically turns into four suddenly vanished hours, our over reliance on our iEverythings is fragmenting not only the political and pop-cultural zeitgeist but also what it means to be part of a traditional nuclear family. To paraphrase pioneering futurist, computer scientist, and philosopher Jaron Lanier, you are not your gadget. But for countless tech-savvy Homo sapiens , such warnings go unheeded.

In Neil-Fisher’s rom-com-ish riposte, Jeanine and Dan (Longoria and Walsh, respectively) are a happily married couple raising a teenage daughter (Finley) in Chicago. Mom is a workaholic commercial leasing director and former attorney who’s glued to her iPhone 24/7 while house-husband Dan runs an artisanal hot sauce micro-business out of the family’s garage. Alas, the “happily” part of their marriage is in danger of disintegrating due to familial technocracy. When Jeanine’s boss orders her to take a two-week “mandatory sabbatical” after her techy enthusiasm goes one workplace email too far (a fact she fails to mention to her husband), Dan decides what this faltering and apparently sexless relationship needs is a digital detox: a three-day weekend in the countryside with no phones, tablets, or other distracting gadgetry. It’s just the two of them (and some edibles) in a rough-hewn cabin in the woods with barely any cell service to complicate matters. For a while the getaway seems to be working, but they’ve both snuck in their phones, which leads to a comically desperate search for reception and mutual bickering. So much for that rustic sexytime holiday.

Walsh co-wrote the script with Brad Morris, and while the premise is solid, Unplugging struggles to find the right balance between comedy and serious social criticism. As the more chill Dan, Walsh is technically the voice of reason, literally crying out in the wilderness because – irony of ironies – a cell signal evades him. There’s an unnecessary and unexplained subplot about mysterious, possibly military drones chasing the couple across hill and dale, which may be an attempt to link their own overuse of technology with that of Big Brother. Thompson shows up, also without any real reason, as a local survivalist with a raccoon named LuLu, and the always welcome Keith David gets a cameo as a funky bartender.

Unfortunately for a film that has so much to say about a topic of great import, Unplugging is hamstrung by its ricocheting tone and undercut by sequences that probably provoked chuckles during the initial read-through but too often fall flat in the finished product. That’s a shame because – oh, hang on a sec, would you? I’ve got an incoming text. Just, you know, I’ll be right back. Promise.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

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Kimberley Jones, Aug. 16, 2019

Josh Kupecki, Aug. 10, 2018

Aug. 7, 2022

April 29, 2022

Unplugging , Deborah Neil-Fisher , Eva Longoria , Lea Thompson , Matt Walsh , Keith David , Hala Finley , Johnny Pemberton , Al Madrigal , Gail Cronauer

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Unplugging Reviews

"A dire affair that strands good, funny actors in a lousy movie."

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Jun 25, 2022

The title of this relationship comedy refers to a digital detox; but, watching it, the only unplugging you might be tempted to do is yanking the plug out of the mains socket.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 7, 2022

The stars have decent chemistry and comic timing, yet the film relies too heavily on broad gags that overwhelm any grounded exploration of tech addiction.

Full Review | May 4, 2022

It is a testament almost exclusively to the actors that Unplugging is not more aggravating than it has turned out to be.

Full Review | May 2, 2022

Unplugging tries to stay connected to the audience but I recommend you just cut the cord.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 29, 2022

Despite its two capable comedic leads, this romcom doesn't rise above the level of stereotypical fish-out-of-water and off-the-grid jokes.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 27, 2022

If you are in the market for a movie which treats the subject of device addiction with far more care and insight, check out HER, JEXI or the brilliant documentary SCREENED OUT. Don't blame the message here; blame the messenger that is "Unplugging."

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 26, 2022

Unplugging's brief slivers of comedy don't compensate for a woefully thin script. Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh have believable chemistry, but amateurish direction wastes the talent of its veteran leads.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 26, 2022

Alas, the film isn't original enough to properly engage the audience.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 26, 2022

The story remains stuck in the middle of nowhere...

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 22, 2022

The characters revelatory moments speak to audiences. As the couple try to balance their work and home lives, it is hard not to think everyone can benefit from doing the same. There is fun to be had, but not enough to put your phone away.

Full Review | Apr 21, 2022

Unplugging is hamstrung by its ricocheting tone and undercut by sequences that probably provoked chuckles during the initial read-through but too often fall flat in the finished product.

It only took about ten minutes before I wanted to unplug my Internet while watching Unplugging

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 20, 2022

Consistency is punted away in the third act, but there's an hour of enjoyable mildness with performances aiming to please, meeting the production's modest creative goals.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Apr 20, 2022

Unplugging [2022] Review: A Relatable Comedy about Digital Detox that Shines Through All Odds

During the road trip when Dan comes out of the gas station to find Jeanine trying to climb on top of their car in the hope of connecting to some mobile network, I was amused by how eerily true the situation would be if I, or anyone, were to lose my mobile network for a long time. The film, Unplugging, directed by Debra Neil-Fisher, harps on this realistic obsession with technology, particularly the cell phone, in our modern lives. It skillfully builds a narrative around this theme and takes the audience on a feel-good ride, making its 1 hour 34 minutes-long runtime feel -mostly- smooth.

We are led into the lives of Jeanine, played by Eva Longoria, and Dan, played by Matt Walsh, a couple who has a functional relationship and leads a tolerable family life with their daughter and the other omnipresent member, their technological gadgets. Jeanine is a little obsessed with her work, cell phone, and the internet. In one of the scenes, when she finds it difficult to sleep at night, she types away on her laptop to get a head start on her next day’s round of work. Dan, on the other hand, sells customized hot sauces from their garage and watches too many YouTube videos throughout the day. He opens his eyes to the sham of a life they have been living when he visits the funeral of his friend.

Related to Unplugging – Room 203 [2022] Review: A Gripping Tale that Ebbs and Flows between being a Teenage Drama and a Thrilling Horror Movie

To help mend the relationship with his wife, Dan proposes to take her on a relaxing road trip with the sole condition that she’d be off her phone during this trip. The idea of a digital detox is enticing, and soon both of them hit the road only to experience a series of misadventures. In the end, do they successfully understand how much technology is too much technology in their lives? A little more clarity about how the trip affected their daily life would suit this movie better, which otherwise seems to be impatient to draw the line. Perhaps it comes as a little bit of a shocker to the audience, forced down a winding road full of bizarre sub-plots featuring several ‘what-the-fork’ revelations, that the plot actually makes ends meet.

There is too much technology around Eva and Dan, just like us. Its presence is so ordinary in our lives that it only struck me when Dan says that he has made coffee cowboy style, by which he means that he has made coffee on a stove, lighting the fire with a matchstick. An electric coffee maker is the new normal. The screenplay gets right all the little details that technology has slaved us to. For example, Jeanine missed out on a shooting star in the night sky because she was too busy looking for a phone signal while Dan, who was busy soaking in the starry night, caught a glimpse of it and became as excited as a young child.

The observations about local conspiracy theories about China and aero-space drones are all convincing too. However, these realistic situations tumble into the weird scenario of petting a chicken and feeding it aspirin, which is a little difficult to come to terms with except for its comic value. For everything that doesn’t add up, the areas covered on this road trip double up as a constricting space, imbibing paranoia among the protagonists and acting as a perfect setting for the narrative to unfold.

Also, Read – Implanted [2022] Review – A shallow A.I-gone-wrong thriller

Longoria plays her part diligently as a technology-obsessed mom left in the wilderness without a cell phone network after learning that her daughter had to visit the hospital. Walsh, on the other hand, doesn’t nail his comic timings as well as Longoria. Even in his maddest rage when he attacks a drone, his facial expressions don’t do justice to his actions. Their on-screen chemistry is inconsistent towards the end of the film, especially, when they are engaged in a revelatory fight. Every other character, who comes and goes as they please for the lack of more conclusive sub-plots, is designed to be odd and mostly inconsequential. Among them, the character of an Uber driver turned conspiracy theory fetishist, Vicky, played by Tina Parker, has to be a personal favorite.

The movie, Unplugging, shows a glimpse of how difficult it can be to live without technology’s boons for a little while, and it isn’t too difficult to imagine ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist. The director, Neil Fischer, has focused on the timelessness of the theme, pertinent with each passing day in our lives, and goes the distance to make it as palatable with verbal banter arising out of quirky challenges as possible. It doesn’t promise too much fun, but it ensures that you have a good time throughout.

Unplugging releases in theatres on April 22, 2022, and will be available via Video On Demand on April 29, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O74DQka2uA

Unplugging (2022) Movie Links – IMDb , Rotten Tomatoes , Wikipedia Unplugging (2022) Movie Cast – Eva Longoria, Matt Walsh, Lea Thompson, Keith David, Hala Finley

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Unplugging Review: A Dull Attempt at Backwoods Comedy

A married couple (Matt Walsh, Eva Longoria) gets away from their digital life in Unplugging.

A married couple's attempt to get away from their digital life predictably devolves into backwoods shenanigans. Unplugging's brief slivers of comedy don't compensate for a woefully thin script . The premise is milked dry early in the second act. Unplugging then uses goofy interactions with cardboard characters as lame filler material. Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh have believable chemistry with each other and make the film watchable on a basic level, but amateurish direction wastes the talent of its veteran leads.

In suburban Chicago, Dan (Walsh) and Jeanine (Longoria) Dewerson have lost the sparkle in their relationship. Jeanine is a workaholic addicted to her cell phone and computer. Dan has flamed out of corporate life. He spends his days making artisanal hot sauce in their garage. They both ignore their teenage daughter (Hala Finley), plodding daily as slaves to the digital grind.

Dan comes to a realization after the tragic loss of Juan (Al Madrigal), his UPS delivery man and only friend. He and Jeanine have to make a change and reconnect before it's too late. Dan doesn't know that Jeanine's job is forcing her on a sabbatical. Her relentless work ethic drives colleagues crazy. Dan rents a remote Indiana cabin for a long weekend. Their hope for quality time doesn't go nearly as planned. Power outages, weird townies, and a barrage of flying drones turn their respite into an utter disaster.

Related: Hatching Review: A Horrific Tale of Body Dysmorphia

Comedy in Unplugging

Let's start with what's actually funny. Walsh has superb comedic timing. He's made a career of reacting to bizarre situations in memorable roles in Bad Santa, Role Models, The Hangover, and Veep. Unplugging isn't remotely on that level. He props up the film as the dart board that deals with the barrage of nutters. Keith David, Lea Thompson, and Johnny Pemberton have supporting roles as the local jerks. These scenes elicit minor chuckles as Walsh plays off their odd and rude behavior.

Walsh then pivots as a loving husband to a dedicated wife. Longoria plays "the straight man" for the duo. She's a reasonable woman trying to support her family. They're convincing as a long-term couple working to keep their fire burning. If only Unplugging had a better script to build on their relationship. Walsh co-wrote the script responsibility for its failures. There was so much more that could have been done in this setting. A gag has Jeanine eating too many marijuana edibles. What starts off as a promising opportunity for endearing humor goes nowhere.

Debra Neil-Fisher has been one of Hollywood's best-known editors for decades. She's worked on everything from Austin Powers to Sonic the Hedgehog . Unplugging is her feature directorial debut. She, unfortunately, strikes out in her first at-bat. The narrative falls apart. The lead characters bumble around the woods for a torturously slow third act. Neil-Fisher cobbles together awkward scenes that have no cinematic flow. It's a disjointed approach that's truly surprising from such an accomplished filmmaker. Unplugging fizzles out badly . I have no doubt that audiences will be peeking at their cell phones.

Unplugging is a production of Traveling Picture Show Company, Productivity Media, Inner Child Productions, and Roxwell Films. It is currently in theaters with a VOD release on April 29th from Vertical Entertainment.

Screen Rant

Eva longoria & matt walsh interview: unplugging.

Unplugging stars Eva Longoria and Matt Walsh chat about their dream wilderness vacations, animal scene partners, and their next collaboration.

Unplugging , a new comedy film set to be released in select theaters on April 22 and On Demand April 29, follows Dan (Matt Walsh, Veep ) and Jeanine Dewerson  (Eva Longoria,  Dora and The Lost City of Gold ) as they attempt to put down their phones long enough to go on a retreat in the mountains and learn to reconnect with each other. Written by Brad Morris ( A.P. Bio ) and Walsh himself, the film is a wacky adventure that spirals into madcap mayhem as the couple struggle to weather the trials thrown in their path.

Longoria and Walsh spoke to  Screen Rant  about their dream unplugged vacations, their brilliant animal scene partners in  Unplugging , and their next collaboration:  Flamin' Hot , which Longoria herself is directing.

Related:  Unplugging Exclusive Clip: Eva Longoria And Matt Walsh Befriend A Raccoon

Screen Rant:  What is your favorite thing to do when you're completely unplugged? Your dream location, dream activity? How do you unwind?

Matt Walsh: One of the best vacations I had was with my wife, and we just rented an RV. We had our littlest baby, and we had no plan. We just started rolling up the coast of California, Oregon, all the way up. No schedule. Nature. Family. Home run. 

I've always wanted to do that trip. 

Eva Longoria:  Same for me, nature. Just nature. In the morning, I'll go meditate. I need my phone for my meditation app. Matt Walsh: Are you good about that?  Eva Longoria: Yeah!  Matt Walsh: God bless you. Eva Longoria: I wake up super early to do it and, here in the Yucatan, the sound at 5:30 in the morning, it's like an orchestra. But that's my happy place, nature. 

They say don't work with children or animals, but you both have these animals as scene partners. Matt, you've got a skunk. Eva, you've got a chicken. 

Eva Longoria: The raccoon...

The raccoon!

Matt Walsh: I would never pick up the chicken. I'm not afraid of them, but I don't feel comfortable handling them and Eva was all over that because she grew up-- Eva Longoria: [Laughs] I grew up on a ranch. So, I love chickens, and I just picked it up. I literally rocked it to sleep. That was true. But Matt, not so much. He was very, very scared of the raccoon.  Matt Walsh: I was definitely scared of the raccoon, and not as scared of the skunk. And by the way, children, animals -- our daughter was amazing, by the way, she was so good.

She was good. Now I assume you two had a great time together because you're also teamed up for Flamin' Hot .

Eva Longoria: That was my revenge offer because he told me what to do this whole movie and I was like, "You know what? I'm gonna tell you what to do now." Matt Walsh: It is true. I did Eva's movie so she could boss me around because I was such a bully on Unplugging. Eva Longoria: It was so perfect. I was just like, "What about Matt Walsh?" And everybody was like, "Oh, yeah, he'll never do it!" Matt Walsh: You know what the real story is? Eva said, "Would you play [an] old slightly racist guy?'" And I said "no, but I'll play a middle-aged slightly racist guy." Eva Longoria: [Laughs] That's true. Matt Walsh: That is the fact. Eva Longoria: He said, "I can't play an old racist guy, but I can play a middle-aged one." [Laughs] I had to re-write the whole thing!

Unplugging   Synopsis

Think a rustic getaway with no cell service, internet or social media is a romantic way to revive your marriage and revitalize your sex life? Think again. When Jeanine (Eva Longoria) and Dan (Matt Walsh) realize the only spark in the bedroom is from the wall socket, Dan proposes a quiet, relaxing weekend in a remote mountain town as the solution to rekindle and recharge. No kids, no phones, no social media — only clean fresh air and lots of romance.

But what starts as the perfect weekend getaway quickly spirals out of control with unearthly encounters, strong edibles, cranky locals, and a pesky one - eyed dog. Without GPS to guide them or social media to save them, Dan and Jeanine are forced to rediscover what truly matters — each other.

Check out our previous chat with Eva Longoria for  Dora and The Lost City of Gold .

More:  Eva Longoria Teases Flamin' Hot Cheetos Movie Isn't What People Expect

Unplugging  will be released in theaters on April 22 and On Demand April 29.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Acoustic concert series has some mature stuff.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Features male and female musicians from all walks

Some lyrics include mild references to violence or

Some lyrics include references to sex and intimate

Some lyrics include some strong language like "dam

The series is a promotional vehicle for the perfor

Some lyrics include occasional references to drug

Parents need to know that this series showcases acoustic performances by musical artists of all genres and ages, from legends like Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton to more recent artists like Jay-Z and Korn. Many of the shows are completely tame, but some acts perform songs that include strong language ("damn," "hell")…

Positive Messages

Features male and female musicians from all walks of life who perform music from a variety of genres. Song lyric content varies widely depending on the artist; some songs may deal with moody and/or depressive themes.

Violence & Scariness

Some lyrics include mild references to violence or violent acts.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Some lyrics include references to sex and intimate relationships.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Some lyrics include some strong language like "damn" and "hell."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

The series is a promotional vehicle for the performers' music. MTV has released many tie-in CDs and DVDs.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Some lyrics include occasional references to drug use.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this series showcases acoustic performances by musical artists of all genres and ages, from legends like Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton to more recent artists like Jay-Z and Korn. Many of the shows are completely tame, but some acts perform songs that include strong language ("damn," "hell"), sexual innuendo, and mild references to drugs and violence. Others may veer into moody, depressive content. The series also functions as a vehicle for promoting new albums and up-and-coming performers.

Where to Watch

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What's the Story?

UNPLUGGED is an acoustic live performance series starring many of the biggest and brightest stars in the music biz. The show shines the spotlight on popular and up-and-coming bands and solo musicians as they reinterpret their music in an intimate setting without the electric amplified instruments that are normally part of their acts. In each installment, artists like KISS, Alicia Keys , Jay-Z , Ne-Yo , Joss Stone , and Eric Clapton perform both old favorites and new material.

Is It Any Good?

Created in 1989, Unplugged offers a fresh way to watch famous musicians perform without the background dancers and pyrotechnics you might expect to see at a regular concert venue or in a music video. But these more straightforward musical presentations are also used as promotional devices; episodes are often broadcast to coincide with a new album release (plus, MTV has put out a lot of tie-in CDs and DVDs over the years).

Still, this entertaining series does more than sell music to potential buyers. It allows artists to express their genuine passion for music through the simplicity of their performance. And it's the honesty behind these presentations that makes the series worth watching.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how music videos have impacted the music industry as a whole. Are music videos really like commercials? Can musicians be famous today without launching music videos as well as the songs themselves? Families can also talk about different kinds of musical performances. Is it more fun to hear music performed with electric instruments, or are acoustic versions better? Why or why not?

• Premiere date : November 1, 1989
• Networks : MTV , MTV2 , VH1
• Genre : Reality TV
• TV rating : TV-PG
• Last updated : February 28, 2022

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Behind the Music

Bridging the Gap

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Unplugged (I) (2021)

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Writing credits (in alphabetical order)  , cast  , produced by , cinematography by , editing by .

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure

Content Caution

In Theaters

• February 18, 2022
• Tom Holland as Nathan Drake; Mark Wahlberg as Victor Sullivan; Antonio Banderas as Santiago Moncada; Sophia Ali as Chloe Frazer; Tati Gabrielle as Braddock; Steven Waddington as The Scotsman; Pingi Moli as Hugo

Home Release Date

• May 10, 2022
• Ruben Fleischer

Distributor

• Columbia Pictures

Movie Review

When Sam and Nathan Drake were young, they always dreamed of becoming treasure hunters. It was in their blood, Sam told his little brother, because they were descended from pirates .

Unfortunately, Nathan never got to go on some wild adventure seeking a priceless fortune because Sam ran off without him to avoid juvenile detention.

But that all changes when Victor Sullivan, aka “Sully,” shows up seeking Nathan’s help.

See, unlike Nathan, Sully’s actually seen Sam here and there these past 10 years—worked with him, in fact—tracking down the lost gold of Ferdinand Magellan (the explorer credited with completing the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1522).

For Sully, it’s just a paycheck, a way to get rich quick. But for Nathan, it means finding his lost brother and fulfilling their family legacy.

Positive Elements

Sully uses Nathan as a means to an end. In his line of work, you can’t trust anybody . And he basically admits he left a previous partner to die when things got hairy. However, Nathan’s goodness rubs off on the older man, spurring him to make some redemptive and sacrificial choices later in the story.

Sam abandons Nathan when they’re just kids, but he makes a vow to come back eventually for his little brother. Unfortunately, he never does anything more than send postcards to Nathan, and this creates a feeling of bitterness in Nathan towards his big bro.

However, Nathan eventually learns that there were extenuating circumstances that prevented Sam from returning—and that Sam may have even been protecting his kin by staying away. And this fosters a spirit of hope for reconciliation in the younger sibling.

Spiritual Elements

Sam and Nathan grow up in a Catholic orphanage. As adults, neither are churchgoers, but Nathan feels extra guilty when breaking into a church—though, admittedly, this may be due more to his fear of punishment by the nuns than his fear of God.

Many of the clues to the Magellan treasure are linked to religious icons. Two keys are made in the shape of a cross. There are references to heaven and hell. Several clues are hidden in a church (and Nathan and Sully have to mildly desecrate it to find them). Nathan is nearly killed when he ignores a symbol called “the Eye of Providence.”

Someone sarcastically quotes “thou shalt not steal” from the Ten Commandments. A street performer is dressed as a devil-angel type character.

A man says he has faith in God (and crosses himself) but not in his son.

Sexual Content

An exercise montage shows a shirtless Nathan. Some women wear revealing outfits and bikini tops. One woman’s formfitting top leaves little to the imagination. Innuendo suggests that two characters previously had a sexual relationship. People dance in a nightclub. Someone jokes about the drink “Sex on a Beach.”

Nathan and fellow treasure hunter Chloe share a bedroom one night. We never see them in bed together, and there’s nothing to suggest they did anything besides sleep. But Nathan harbors a crush on Chloe, so the fact that they shared the same bed could send some questionable messages to younger viewers. (Nathan is also shirtless when he wakes the following morning.)

Violent Content

Treasure hunters often get into fistfights, gunfights—and sometimes even sword fights. And you can imagine that they all sustain a number of injuries during these scuffles. (One woman is thrown through a glass wall, and Nathan bleeds after getting knocked unconscious with the butt of a gun.)

Several people hurtle through the air to their deaths after falling out the back of a cargo plane without parachutes. (More die later in a similar manner after being thrown from a boat carried by a helicopter.) Nathan accidentally kicks one or two enemy goons off the plane himself, shouting apologies for what he calls “totally reactive” actions.

To be fair, these men were firing guns and trying to kill him, but it’s still jarring when cargo crates smack into people, sending them to their deaths, if not killing them on impact. Nathan later unapologetically shoots a helicopter from the air with a cannonball, sending its occupants to their fiery deaths.

Someone is crushed by a falling boat. A woman slits the throats of several colleagues. A man commits patricide to stop his father from giving away their family fortune. We hear that a man was left for dead after he was shot. Death threats are exchanged.

Two people are nearly shot by arrows and drowned by booby traps. A boy is saved from falling off a balcony by his brother.

Crude or Profane Language

Nearly 30 uses of the s-word. We also hear frequent uses of “a–,” “b–tard,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” There’s an incomplete “What the—.” God’s name is abused 10 times, and Jesus’ name is abused twice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

People drink alcohol. Nathan drinks a 500-year-old bottle of rum that he finds on a pirate ship. Nathan works as a bartender before Sully recruits him, and he displays his mixologist skills throughout the film. A girl smokes a cigarette. A man steals a cigar.

Other Negative Elements

People lie, steal, pickpocket and double-cross each other. Someone says that money changes people, making them greedy and selfish.

Sam is nearly sent to juvenile detention for stealing from a museum (as it’s his third strike); but he runs away, avoiding capture. We hear that another man was discharged from the military for looting artifacts.

As a child, Nathan tries to imagine that he isn’t an orphan and that his parents are just missing, but Sam harshly tells him this isn’t true. Later, we hear that Chloe’s dad sold the first artifact she ever discovered as a child (rather than donate it to a museum) and that she never saw him again after that.

Nathan tells Sully that Magellan’s expedition was never about exploration but about money. And since Magellan’s crew hid the gold after his untimely death, his patrons never saw a single nugget.

Uncharted is based on the popular video game franchise , and it’s a pretty even mix of Tomb Raider and The Goonies .

Language is the most obvious issue here, with the s-word count reaching well into double digits. There’s also quite a bit of violence, with one character slitting throats as casually as she would use a letter opener.

However, it’s the totally pointless and seemingly random workout montage that caught me off guard with its obvious objectification of the lead actor. Maybe it’s because I’m so used to thinking of Tom Holland as Peter Parker, a high schooler , but his shirtless workout scenes felt icky —like I was watching a younger brother.

The film’s creators have unashamedly cashed in on Holland’s appeal to young, female audiences. And while this isn’t anything new in Hollywood, it’s definitely a subject worth discussing with your teens.

Because it’s easy to say “no” to a movie that has sex scenes or nudity. What’s harder to moderate are films that simply suggest someone’s desirability. It grooms audiences to think of that person in an adult mindset, further suggesting that it’s OK to objectify them and possibly others as well.

And all of this is really quite a shame since the film didn’t need any of those content problems to be entertaining.

Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.

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