Jason KingDue Date (6.5/10)
November 23rd 2010 06:54
:
REVIEW BY MITCH - THANKS MITCH
Category: Reviews
Due Date (6.5 out of 10)
REVIEW BY MITCH - THANKS MITCH
The premise of DUE DATE is simple, if not, familiar: uptight architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr) needs to get from Atlanta to LA for the birth of his first born child to wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan). He, no matter how much he tries to ignore and avoid it, continues to cross paths with struggling actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) which results in both of them being escorted off the plane and added to the "No Fly List". With no wallet, passport or I.D, Peter is forced to bite his lip and accept a ride from Ethan where he experiences the worst week of his life.
DUE DATE is Todd Phillips' follow up film after his near invincible 2009 comedy smash THE HANGOVER which has left him with some rather large shoes to fill and while he definitely gives it a decent crack, it unfortunately falls short of the mark.
The chemistry between Downey Jr and Galifianakis is awesome. They both turn in some great performances. RDJ is the uptight, too-good-for-you type architect who normally wouldn't be caught dead anywhere in the vacinity of Galifianakis' character which allows him to ramp up his frustrated comedic skills massively as he continually finds himself suffering from every conceivable injury a human body can withstand and Zach, playing the optimistically infuriating full grown child type, reveals his dramatic potential in a few scenes where you wait to laugh at an impending punch line only to realize that you're sitting there, quiet and wide-eyed at his oddly moving monologues.
The screen time of Michelle Monaghan and Jamie Foxx (who also features in the trailer) barely exceed 10 minutes each where as Juliette Lewis and director Todd Phillips provide some good chuckles in their small cameos together as "unlicensed pharmacists for glaucoma patients". Robert Downey Jr also demonstrates hilariously why his character should never be left alone with bratty children in this same scene which scored huge laughs.
But, as usual, it's Zach Galifianakis and his masturbating bulldog who brings those memorable one-liners to the table... one in particular regarding "Ethan Tremblay's" definition of how bodily fluids come to be, has been tattooed into my memory forever. Without a doubt, the line I laughed most uncontrollably to in this movie.
In all honesty, it's not the funniest movie of the year. It's not this years HANGOVER which many people tried to predict it would be. I only found myself laughing riotously in maybe 2 scenes, the rest were just modest chuckles. Quite a few jokes actually didn't garner any response from the crowd at all. Some of the gags seemed dry... but it IS funny, it's just not knee-slapping, head-throwing, tear-inducing hilarious which may let a lot of people down. It also manages to squeeze in a few genuinely sentimental scenes as well which grounds the film a lot more.
Surprisingly though, it didn't seem to lag in any area. It seemed to keep up a pretty decent pace from start to finish which was a nice surprise as it ran for a little over 100 minutes.
All in all, what you'll take away from this movie is a few easy laughs and maybe a line or two that you can continue to quote to your mates for the rest of your life.
DUE DATE is out Thursday, November 25th and scores a 6.5 out of 10
REVIEW BY MITCH - THANKS MITCH
The premise of DUE DATE is simple, if not, familiar: uptight architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr) needs to get from Atlanta to LA for the birth of his first born child to wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan). He, no matter how much he tries to ignore and avoid it, continues to cross paths with struggling actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) which results in both of them being escorted off the plane and added to the "No Fly List". With no wallet, passport or I.D, Peter is forced to bite his lip and accept a ride from Ethan where he experiences the worst week of his life.
DUE DATE is Todd Phillips' follow up film after his near invincible 2009 comedy smash THE HANGOVER which has left him with some rather large shoes to fill and while he definitely gives it a decent crack, it unfortunately falls short of the mark.
The chemistry between Downey Jr and Galifianakis is awesome. They both turn in some great performances. RDJ is the uptight, too-good-for-you type architect who normally wouldn't be caught dead anywhere in the vacinity of Galifianakis' character which allows him to ramp up his frustrated comedic skills massively as he continually finds himself suffering from every conceivable injury a human body can withstand and Zach, playing the optimistically infuriating full grown child type, reveals his dramatic potential in a few scenes where you wait to laugh at an impending punch line only to realize that you're sitting there, quiet and wide-eyed at his oddly moving monologues.
The screen time of Michelle Monaghan and Jamie Foxx (who also features in the trailer) barely exceed 10 minutes each where as Juliette Lewis and director Todd Phillips provide some good chuckles in their small cameos together as "unlicensed pharmacists for glaucoma patients". Robert Downey Jr also demonstrates hilariously why his character should never be left alone with bratty children in this same scene which scored huge laughs.
But, as usual, it's Zach Galifianakis and his masturbating bulldog who brings those memorable one-liners to the table... one in particular regarding "Ethan Tremblay's" definition of how bodily fluids come to be, has been tattooed into my memory forever. Without a doubt, the line I laughed most uncontrollably to in this movie.
In all honesty, it's not the funniest movie of the year. It's not this years HANGOVER which many people tried to predict it would be. I only found myself laughing riotously in maybe 2 scenes, the rest were just modest chuckles. Quite a few jokes actually didn't garner any response from the crowd at all. Some of the gags seemed dry... but it IS funny, it's just not knee-slapping, head-throwing, tear-inducing hilarious which may let a lot of people down. It also manages to squeeze in a few genuinely sentimental scenes as well which grounds the film a lot more.
Surprisingly though, it didn't seem to lag in any area. It seemed to keep up a pretty decent pace from start to finish which was a nice surprise as it ran for a little over 100 minutes.
All in all, what you'll take away from this movie is a few easy laughs and maybe a line or two that you can continue to quote to your mates for the rest of your life.
DUE DATE is out Thursday, November 25th and scores a 6.5 out of 10
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