DUE DATE
2010
R
You can watch the trailer here
R
You can watch the trailer here
There's a common concern that a comedy film's trailer may give away the funniest parts of the film. This tactic is used to draw audience to the theaters, but when the best scenes are, in fact, used in the trailer, it leaves the audience wanting for more. As much as I hate to say it, Due Date commits this most heinous of comedic crimes.
Our story, which was directed by Todd Phillips, is your standard "two guys go on a race-against-time road trip" tale. Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) find themselves on the no-fly list after an Ethan-created situation in an Atlanta airport. Afraid he is going to miss the birth of his son, Peter reluctantly agrees to drive to Los Angeles with Ethan. The two opposing personalities generate quite a lot of tension between the two as they make their way across the country, bumbling and stumbling along the way, all the while finding out more about themselves than they had already known.
The story just seems too run-of-the-mill. I mean, the concept of a road trip with dysfunctional people has been done before (the first movies that comes to mind are 2000's Road Tripand 2006's Little Miss Sunshine), and there's only so much you can do with it. The most you can do to separate a film about a road trip is create more and more outlandish situations to keep your audience captivated. That's where Due Date hits a speed bump: the situations that Peter and Ethan find themselves in aren't quite ridiculous enough. In a way, it all seemed so terribly predictable. We know exactly how the movie is going to end, and it just waters everything else down. There is a moment midway through the film where Ethan uncovers the potential for a severely dramatic twist, but even that doesn't pull through in the end (however, it's probably good that it didn't). The movie was just a little mundane.
That's not to say that the acting isn't good. If anything, Due Date is worth watching solely for Downey Jr. and Galifianakis. I can never say enough about Robert Downey Jr.; the man just has a knack for acting, and he commands the attention whenever he's on the screen. Galifianakis, who's novelty is starting to run a little thin, did surprise me with a couple of dramatically emotional scenes. I knew such bits were within his acting realm (see: It's Kind of a Funny Story), but it's always a pleasure to see a little bit of range. You should also be on the lookout for some small roles and cameos, including an Oscar nominee and an Oscar winner, that prove to be rather effective and funny.
Ultimately, Due Date does provide a few laughs, although I had hoped to have shared a few more than I did. It's not a bad movie by any means, but considering the potential it had, I just wished they would've given me a little bit more for my dollar.
Our story, which was directed by Todd Phillips, is your standard "two guys go on a race-against-time road trip" tale. Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) find themselves on the no-fly list after an Ethan-created situation in an Atlanta airport. Afraid he is going to miss the birth of his son, Peter reluctantly agrees to drive to Los Angeles with Ethan. The two opposing personalities generate quite a lot of tension between the two as they make their way across the country, bumbling and stumbling along the way, all the while finding out more about themselves than they had already known.
The story just seems too run-of-the-mill. I mean, the concept of a road trip with dysfunctional people has been done before (the first movies that comes to mind are 2000's Road Tripand 2006's Little Miss Sunshine), and there's only so much you can do with it. The most you can do to separate a film about a road trip is create more and more outlandish situations to keep your audience captivated. That's where Due Date hits a speed bump: the situations that Peter and Ethan find themselves in aren't quite ridiculous enough. In a way, it all seemed so terribly predictable. We know exactly how the movie is going to end, and it just waters everything else down. There is a moment midway through the film where Ethan uncovers the potential for a severely dramatic twist, but even that doesn't pull through in the end (however, it's probably good that it didn't). The movie was just a little mundane.
That's not to say that the acting isn't good. If anything, Due Date is worth watching solely for Downey Jr. and Galifianakis. I can never say enough about Robert Downey Jr.; the man just has a knack for acting, and he commands the attention whenever he's on the screen. Galifianakis, who's novelty is starting to run a little thin, did surprise me with a couple of dramatically emotional scenes. I knew such bits were within his acting realm (see: It's Kind of a Funny Story), but it's always a pleasure to see a little bit of range. You should also be on the lookout for some small roles and cameos, including an Oscar nominee and an Oscar winner, that prove to be rather effective and funny.
Ultimately, Due Date does provide a few laughs, although I had hoped to have shared a few more than I did. It's not a bad movie by any means, but considering the potential it had, I just wished they would've given me a little bit more for my dollar.
Movie Review Summary:
Grade: C+
Thumb... Slightly Up
Grade: C+
Thumb... Slightly Up
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