A tiny, little evil part of me sort of wishes that Robert Downey Jr. never got the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man. Yes, he kicked ass in the role and it rocketed him into the much deserved spotlight, but ever since then, he’s starred in a string of movies that are so content with their mediocrity (Sherlock Holmes, Tropic Thunder, Iron Man 2) that I can hardly even feel sorry for him anymore and unfortunately, Due Date is no exception. Coming off of the surprisingly successful The Hangover, director Todd Philips is back again for some more mean-spirited, juvenile shenanigans, only this time around, it’s not nearly as fun (or funny) as the first time around.
Robert Downey Jr. stars as Peter Highman, a high-strung successful businessman (you know, cause he has a Bluetooth and a tie) who needs to get back home in order to witness the birth of his child. Enter aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis) whose stupidity and drug induced extracurricular activities prevents him and Peter from flying to their destination. They ultimately become forced to drive across the country together. Will they make it in time to see the baby? Will they make it in one piece? Does anyone else care besides me? First of all, I hate Zach Galifianakis. I do. I really do. After seeing him in only one film (The Hangover), I was already tired of his shtick. He’s unfortunately (for whom, I’m not sure) been typecast and I only see him as the bumbling idiot who makes things ten times harder for the protagonist to achieve his or her goal. Without this character, there would really be no movie, which I personally think is just lazy screenwriting and it’s not funny. Given, the movie was pretty funny when it really wanted to be, but ultimately, I feel like the filmmakers relied too heavily on Galifianakis acting stupid and being annoying. It just wasn’t that funny overall. The plot is ridiculously thin here and we’ve all seen this type of film way too many times before. Many are comparing this movie to Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but that would be a compliment. Due Date is simply a road movie which only reminds me of the nostalgic, but similarly mediocre, Tommy Boy. The filmmakers also completely and unapologetically waste two great actors to nothing: Jaime Foxx and Michelle Monaghan. An interesting subplot develops with Foxx, but is abruptly dropped and explained in seconds. It’s sad that the movies’ most interesting obstacle is overcome with quick dialogue. Also, seeing Monaghan reduced to an unrealistically understanding wife whose only development comes through brief telephone conversations is degrading to the actress and to the audience alike. Terrible.
For what it’s worth, though, Robert Downey Jr. is still the man. He was obviously the best part of this film and mostly when I was laughing, it was because of him. The man has such great comedic timing and delivery that it was actually his dialogue that kept me laughing more so than the crazy situations the characters found themselves in. Much like The Hangover, Due Date has a real mean spiritedness to it that usually turns a lot of audiences off, but I absolutely love it. Punching kids, fighting the handicapped, dry sarcasm etc. made for some nice dark humor that really helped the movie from being a complete waste. There were also some nice little cameos in the movie that I won’t spoil here, but let’s just say that some of them weren’t a complete waste like Foxx and Monaghan.All in all, Due Date is not a fun time at the movies. Robert Downey Jr. is so much better than this, and while I have no idea why he chose to be in this movie, I’m happy he was because if he weren’t, this would be an absolute disaster.
Hopefully director Todd Phillips rises above the average situational comedy because he obviously has talent and it would be a shame to watch him waste it on trivial matters such as this. Lastly, I hope Zach Galifianakis disappears forever because I’ve been seeing his bare stomach and his oversized beard a little too much lately.
My Final Rating: 4 out of 10
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