I watched Ricky Stanicky and had a great time. It’s one of my favorite comedy movies in recent years and felt like a throwback to 10-20 years ago. With just one problem.

I’m going to preface everything that I have to say right now with this: I love John Cena. I think he’s the best. He’s so funny to me, and I think he nails all of his acting roles right now.

Ricky Stanicky works because of John Cena. I don’t think this is a good movie without John Cena in the Rock Hard Rod role. He was laugh-out-loud funny throughout the film carrying what was honestly a mediocre cast.

I just never believed Zac Efron or Anthony Santino in this role. Jermaine Fowler was good, but I just didn’t think the other two were very funny in this. Honestly, jump back ten or twenty years, and you can replace them with any combination of comedic actors from the 2000s or 2010s and it would’ve been a better movie.

If I can gush a little bit more about Cena, the fact that he’s willing to make fun of himself and let himself be the butt of jokes is what makes him a movie star. Sure, he’ll probably never make hundreds of millions of dollars that The Rock has made from Hollywood, but Dwayne could learn something from his wrestling compadre about letting loose once in a while.

Overall, I really liked Ricky Stanicky, and I’ve been recommending it to friends. It’s a good laugh.