Director: Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Old School)
Screenplay: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Todd Phillips
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 100 min
(3/5)With Due Date, you are bound to get what you expect – a road trip comedy from the guy who brought the world Old School, The Hangover, and well, Road Trip. If you’re looking for something worthy of awards, move on. If you’re looking for something smart, move on. If you’re looking for a movie you will probably only watch once, but get a few low-brow cheap laughs amongst friends, well, you could do much, much worse than Due Date
First and foremost, the screenplay for the movie is cookie-cutter at best, right out of the Hollywood comedic scenarios Mad Libs (or an early draft of the classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles). As it goes, a cooler-than-you and dickish soon-to-be businessman father (Downey Jr.) must find his way from Atlanta to Los Angeles in a short amount of time in order to make it to the birth of his first child after mistakenly being put on the “no fly” list. Conveniently, the strange man who caused all of his woes (Galifianakis) offers him a ride and the two embark on your typical comedic zany cross-country adventure.
The best way to put it: it’s a poor screenplay with exceptional actors. Fortunately for this movie, the exceptional actors are able to take plenty of conversations and scenes and make them rather amusing, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Still, the laughs are sparse. One can only think that Due Date could have taken a lesson or two from the aforementioned Planes, Trains and Automobiles, the film which this takes an obvious inspiration.
Unlike the movie’s tagline, “Leave your comfort zone,” the movie itself never does. It does nothing new. It’s always fun to see Robert Downey Jr. take on a comedic role and Galifianakis continues to do what it is that he does best, but overall, it’s a forgettable, unsurprising, and uninspired comedy that, despite plenty of amusing moments and two great leads, fails to become something worth remembering. I would put it above Old School and The Hangover in the acting category, but not necessarily the category for memorableness.
In all honesty, the highlight – besides satisfying my heterosexual man crush on Downey – was actually the music in the film. Recent favorites such as Wolfmother, Band of Horses, and Fleet Foxes make an appearance, along with classic legends like Neil Young, Pink Floyd, and Lou Reed.
Due Date is a funny movie, but really, considering the talent involved (and I haven’t even mentioned the likes of Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, and Danny McBride) it should have been much, much funnier. My final thoughts: Check it out if you’re bored. Pass if you’re not.
I agree with you 110%. I’m pretty positive that my post movie tweet read: The best part about DUE DATE: the music.
All the laughs were in the trailer but man, Galifianakis works it and I loved seeing him in action, even if it was kind of lame. *Someone* in our theatre really enjoyed it though. There was a splattering of applause at the end of the movie. It was odd.
Sounds like the definition for the reason behind Netflix existing. I’m sure Gamble will think this is the funniest thing since Buster Keaton. We’ll probably get a good talking to on the Cinecast.
I *know* Gamble has better taste than this. I’ll give him Galifianakis’ genius but that’s about it.
I have a hard time calling the film uninspired when Galifianakis is acting off his ass in the film, but its mediocre in most areas. idn’t help that they pretty much wasted everyone outside of Downey and Galifianakis. I did like how dark it was though, which was a nice surprise.
Acting can be inspired in a movie with an uninspired script. Which is more or less what I said.
To be honest and straight up, I believe this is better than Hangover. Hangover really lost it’s replay after the second time I watched it. It gets annoying and repetitive and I really dislike Brad Cooper always playing that foul mouthed 40 year old frat guy. I felt Due Date was somewhat fresh, even though a lot say it’s very similar to “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” which I haven’t seen in ages. I just felt Downey and Galifianakis were the strange, but funny as hell duo. Downey was great in it. His expressions getting annoyed with Galifianakis were priceless. I would give the movie a 8.25/10. To me Hangover is 6.5-7/10
Hmm, it doesn’t surprise me that Due Date is a better film than The Hangover, yet will be overlooked because The Hangover had a fresh (gimmicky?) structure for a comedy, whereas Due Date is just another Buddy Comedy…But actor chemistry will go a long way on subsequent viewings than structure…
But is this all more or less moot, they are both Todd Phillips movies, so really, how good can they possibly be? The puerile frat-boy man-child thing is no longer funny, if it ever was…..Didn’t Adam Sandler beat that horse to death 10 years ago?
To The Reelist, what is the difference between an 8.25 and an 8? Really? Do we need 3 significant figures on a movie rating?
/Numerical Movie ratings bug me, and I’m surly. Carry on…
The puerile frat-boy man-child thing is no longer funny, if it ever was
That’s good because that isn’t the humor in Due Date.
I’m in agreement with all of you.
1. This is better than The Hangover.
2. That doesn’t necessarily mean much.
3. It’s a generic script and story, but not really the frat-boy stuff Todd Phillips is known for spitting out (although still, mostly, low brow).
That’s how I rate.
America’s coolest actor, funniest new comedian and hottest directing talent have somehow conspired to make one of the most worthless films in recent memory.