Is Average Joe (2023) Worth the Download? Moviebox Verdict & Specs

What Ships in this Build: An Unconventional Inheritance

Joe Washington is an uninteresting "average Joe." He's a typical blue collar Everyman as a plumber. There isn't much intrigue in his life until the introduction of the "Who Cooked Your Grass?" reveal. Joe's father was a grifter who stole millions. Now Joe must contend with the repercussions and so must his family and friends, which Joe must deal with as he goes from his "average and mundane" life to a "life and death" race for the integrity of his family. The premise is engaging with "a little" of the comedy a "brutal" criminal underworld brings when you add Robb Cullen as the director with Deon Cole starring as lead comedy with a twist.

Feature Highlights: Performance Calibration & Narrative Thrust

The main draw of Average Joe is from Deon Cole's portrayal of Joe Washington. Cole is known for his comedic timing and is able to traverse the thin line of relatable danger and entertaining absurdity. With a high audience interaction feature and the central focus to anchor the varying against the tone shifting in each episode, Cole is a great choice for the role. The structure of the plot revolves around the slap-and-catch chase of “the truth and the millions” and the race to contain the truth will keep viewers engaged. The "bloody and violent confrontation" that Joe experiences is a great Choice to kick-start the crime genre within the show, and will provide the perfect opportunity for the introduction of the show's comedic elements.

Known Issues: Tonal Drift & Pacing Anomalies

The premise behind The Average Joe is mixing “Comedy” with a narrative that also contains “violent and bloody battles” and is able to balance the tone. There is always a risk of tonal whiplash when comedic scenes undermine the drama or if the violent scenes are embellished. The concept of a “close-knit circle of family and friends” is a slippery slope. On the one hand, this could show great dimensionality for the characters, but this also could be a distraction to the main goal of the story. Many people fall into the same trap of making a storylike this, and it becomes a secondary storyline that is irrelevant and makes the pacing of the story incoherent and defeats the purpose of the main goal for Joe that is to survive. The “average Joe” can be a great story, but it is overdone.

Device Fit: Scaling the Mayhem

With its classification as a comedy-crime show, we can expect to see Deon Cole's character, Joe, participate in both funny, dialogue-driven segments and fast-paced, violent crime segments. Because of its more comedic focus, we can expect mobile viewing to be especially nice for the jokes. In fact, because of the intimate nature of mobile viewing, we can expect the acting to really pop. While the action segments may lose a bit of impact, the mobile viewing of Average Joe will still be more than fine. Each of the segments will really showcase the excellent work the producers and crew have done in creating the tension of the set. But for the truly immersive, action-centered experience, your best bet is to connect your PC to your larger, more high definition TV.

Install or Skip? A Changelog Summary

While it is dense with genre-bending, Average Joe is strong enough with a great lead to keep viewers interested. Though it is rather formulaic in premise, it really can carry itself on how it balances its comedy and violence and doesn't lose itself in plot. If you're looking for a dark comedy crime narrative, this fits that bill. I recommend this for your watchlist, if only for the main character being forced to grow in a stressful situation.

Changelog Summary: Premise is formulaic. With comedic integration and tonal balance introduction. High-stakes criminal narrative justified with dark comedy. Main character is stressed and forced to evolve.