5 out of 10
Due Date, director Todd Phillips follow up to his smash comedy hit The Hangover is merely an okay movie, displaying none of the comic highlights that made his last film a comedy classic. With the pedigree behind Due Date, it should’ve been the funniest comedy of the year. Instead, the film is a flaccid, uninspired, somewhat amusing road trip movie. At times, it seems like Due Date is about to deliver some big laughs, but it always somehow falls short of the mark. How did this happen? Not only does it star Robert Downey Jr., arguably one of the best actors around and a sizable comic talent, but he is joined by the breakout star of The Hangover, Zach Galifianakis. This movie should’ve been comedy gold, so what happened?
Downey plays Peter Highman, an architect on a business trip who must get back to LA in the next three days to be present at the birth of his first child. This wouldn’t prove to be a problem if Peter’s fate wasn’t intertwined with hapless, weirdo, Ethan Tremblay (Galafianakis), a wannabe actor he bumps into at the airport. The two mix up their bags and the next thing you know, Peter and Ethan are both put on the no fly list. Apparently the fact that Peter does absolutely nothing wrong doesn’t matter here in the slightest.
Peter’s problems don’t end there of course. He becomes stranded in Atlanta because he leaves his wallet on the plane and is forced to share a rental car with the very same schmuck that got him into hot water in the first place. Of course this leads to a myriad of problems with Peter getting the snot beat out of him in every conceivable way due to Ethan’s idiocy. Seriously, the man is a human tsunami of destruction.
The script for the film is rather weak, with most of the one liners hitting with a resounding thud. There are a few funny lines, but nothing that you and your buddies will be quoting for the next decade or so. Every single comedic set up the filmmakers have created never reaches any real fruition in terms of laughs; you might chuckle or smile, but that’s about it.
The biggest problem with the film is the characters. Downey is as excellent as usual, but he can only do the best with what he was given. Unfortunately his straight man role is so restrictive, he never gets a chance to let loose and make us laugh. Instead we are left with a character who struggles with anger management issues (ha, ha) and to be honest, every time he spews his venom, you can’t help but agree with him. Anyone in this man’s situation would react the same way. The fact that Peter doesn’t strangle Ethan to death is actually admirable. I know I would’ve; at the very least I would’ve left him stranded on a roadside somewhere.
Zach Galifianakis plays Ethan much like he played his character in The Hangover. That is to say that Ethan is a dumb, childlike, effeminate oddball who no one on the planet Earth could ever identify with. It is obvious now that Galafianakis was largely effective in The Hangover because he was sidelined to a supporting role and his comic shtick was brand new. He should never be the lead; in his case, less is most definitely more. I don’t think the actor will have that long of a career on the big screen if he continues to play this same one note character. Audiences are certainly going to tire of him rather quickly. I expect his career trajectory to be very similar to that of Bobcat Goldwaith’s success in the mid-eighties. He’ll star in a few more films and then disappear quietly into the night.
As far as the rest of the cast is concerned, there isn’t all that much to say. Michelle Monghan has a small thankless role as Downey’s wife that probably took two days to film. There are a few uninspired and unfunny cameos from Danny McBride, Jamie Foxx and Juliette Lewis, but they add little or nothing to the proceedings.
Towards the end Due Date also becomes falsely sweet as the filmmakers attempt to wrap up everything in a nice bow with Peter and Ethan becoming best buds. Ethan is such a bonehead though, this isn’t even remotely plausible. There is no way on God’s green Earth that Peter would ever continue a relationship with this screwball.
All in all, Due Date is a bit of a disappointment considering the talent involved and is better saved for a DVD rental or cable viewing. It’s just not worth the trip to the multiplex.