REVIEW: DUE DATE

Maybe it’s just me, but I expect a lot out of a comedy starring Robert Downy Jr. and Zack Galifanakis… I’ve actually not seen many things with Zack Galifinakis in a staring role, but I’d watched his short’s online called Between Two Ferns, and they were funny enough to raise my expectations of this film to something.

The premise of the film is pretty loose, I thought it might lend itself to the comedy genre, but it really fell short. Basically, Peter Highman (Robert Downy Jr.) is getting on an airplane bound for Los Angeles, where his pregnant wife has a c-section scheduled. He is seated on the airplane in close proximity to Ethan Tremblay  (Zack Galifanakis) at which point hijnx ensues… or so they’d have you believe… Ethan gets both of them thrown off of the plane, and straight onto a no flight list, additionally Peter looses his wallet and therefore can’t rent his own car. Ethan offers to drive him across the country to make it in time for his child’s birth, Peter accepts, they are trapped in a car together,  and that’s that.

What I didn’t like about this film is that it was a comedy that wasn’t very funny… Kind of like a Woody Allen film… sure there were several parts that inspired a giggle, but they were few and far between… which would be okay if I was entertained in some other way while waiting. For instance, they had several cameo roles throughout the film, but none of them were played by comedians. Instead of a comedian, The Rza played a part, which is sort of infuriating… Jim Jarmusch is allowed to bring the funny with the Rza… not the idiot that directed Road Trip…

Jamie Foxx also had a cameo roll… The guy that played Ray Charles a few years back… The last time he was in a comedy was in Booty Call… the movie about chick’s asses.

I’d like to say a lot more, but there really isn’t anything worth mentioning, this film was bad at the one thing it needed to be extraordinary at. Meaning it was worthless, and in no way worth discussing… Zack Galifanakis and Robert Downy Jr. are both fine actors, and they didn’t do anything to destroy this film, it is a problem purely in the script. The jokes either didn’t go far enough, or else they went too far in the wrong direction… The script did call for a little bit of honest drama from the cast, and they delivered, but this just made me think that Todd Philips is the poor man’s Judd Apatow… whose films I don’t like… On the plus side, I would feel very comfortable bringing a date to this movie, as there are only two unfunny masturbation scenes… Damn I hated this movie… I honestly feel I was being generous when I said the jokes were far and few between…

Well, that’s all for me, I apologize for this hastily written, poorly worded review… I’m giving the film 3 out of 10 stars… and this review of the film 2 out of 10 stars… So I’m ending with the mention that the movie is at least 1 star better than this review, Get it while it’s hot! It comes out November 5th!