Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr) is trying to make to home to his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) who is scheduled to deliver their first born at the end of the week. When Peter arrives at the airport, he bumps into Ethan (Zach Galifianakis), who accidentally switches his bag with Peter and begins to cause trouble in his life. While boarding the plane, Peter and Ethan get into an argument and both are kicked off the plane. This is when Peter finds out even more bad news! He is now on the no fly list. With no one else to turn to, Peter hitches a car ride with Ethan across country to hopefully get home to his wife before the baby arrives. A somewhat amusing road trip ensues...
When I first saw the trailer for "Due Date," I felt indifferent about it. Sure, it looked really amusing at times but then I got the feeling it was going to be really bad. "Due Date" was made by Todd Phillips, a man who I feel has gotten a lot of attention off comedies that are better than the norm. I would like to put this out there right now, while most of his films are amusing, all of them are overrated. "The Hangover" was a funny film but it wasn't god's gift to comedy like almost every critic made it out to be, and the same thing goes with "Old School." Phillips knows how to make successful raunchy comedy and has done so since 2000 when he brought us "Road Trip." He's good at it but like everything else, there is room for improvement.
At times, the overall story and characters in "Due Date" reminded of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." You know, the 1987 road trip comedy with John Candy and Steve Martin that was directed by John Hughes? Yep, that one. Sure, it wasn't the exact same movie but it was similar in many ways and felt like it. Galifianakis pretty much played the funny, annoying but ultimately lovable fat guy aka John Candy's character and Downey Jr played the stressed out business guy. It was very similar in terms of characters just with some extras added in to bring it up to date with the times.
The jokes in the film were very hit and miss. I found some of them to be really funny and others just fell dead in their tracks. There are tons of drug gags in the film as well as some sex humor specifically masturbation. These jokes didn't really work for me. The funnier jokes to me were the ones found in the trailer involving them putting Ethan in the cab of the truck and driving over bumps. The jokes I found more amusing were the little ones, more than the big ones. I think the film tried to hard at times to be funny and I just wasn't laughing at it.
I will be honest and say that I thought, Downey Jr and Galifianakis did have solid chemistry with one another. Galifianakis was back to playing that clueless loser character that he played in "The Hangover." I personally didn't like his character but than again, I didn't like Downey Jrs either. I think that was a big problem with the film; neither of the leads were likable. Sure, they had funny moments but they were both equally annoying and not someone the audience could relate to. Downey Jr plays a good a-hole and he does that extremely well. It's not that they didn't have good on-screen chemistry or that they didn't fit their roles, it's just there wasn't any redeeming qualities about either of them. With buddy road trip films, you have to like at least one of the characters and I didn't here.
In the end, "Due Date" received average reviews and for once, I actually agree with the critics about a Todd Phillips film. It's not a bad movie but it's just not great. For every joke that works, there are probably two that fail. It's an enjoyable film that I am glad I watched but probably not one I would want to add to my collection. I think with a little bit more character development and maybe a better and more well-rounded ending, it would have been a much better film. Since the film used characters similar to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," it would have been nice if it used some of its heart as well. Its not something you will be upset when watching but you will just ultimately saying to yourself, "eh, it was OK." in the end. I think for a comedy, it's decent but than again great comedies don't happen every day.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Due Date" is a 5.5 out of 10.
When I first saw the trailer for "Due Date," I felt indifferent about it. Sure, it looked really amusing at times but then I got the feeling it was going to be really bad. "Due Date" was made by Todd Phillips, a man who I feel has gotten a lot of attention off comedies that are better than the norm. I would like to put this out there right now, while most of his films are amusing, all of them are overrated. "The Hangover" was a funny film but it wasn't god's gift to comedy like almost every critic made it out to be, and the same thing goes with "Old School." Phillips knows how to make successful raunchy comedy and has done so since 2000 when he brought us "Road Trip." He's good at it but like everything else, there is room for improvement.
At times, the overall story and characters in "Due Date" reminded of "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." You know, the 1987 road trip comedy with John Candy and Steve Martin that was directed by John Hughes? Yep, that one. Sure, it wasn't the exact same movie but it was similar in many ways and felt like it. Galifianakis pretty much played the funny, annoying but ultimately lovable fat guy aka John Candy's character and Downey Jr played the stressed out business guy. It was very similar in terms of characters just with some extras added in to bring it up to date with the times.
The jokes in the film were very hit and miss. I found some of them to be really funny and others just fell dead in their tracks. There are tons of drug gags in the film as well as some sex humor specifically masturbation. These jokes didn't really work for me. The funnier jokes to me were the ones found in the trailer involving them putting Ethan in the cab of the truck and driving over bumps. The jokes I found more amusing were the little ones, more than the big ones. I think the film tried to hard at times to be funny and I just wasn't laughing at it.
I will be honest and say that I thought, Downey Jr and Galifianakis did have solid chemistry with one another. Galifianakis was back to playing that clueless loser character that he played in "The Hangover." I personally didn't like his character but than again, I didn't like Downey Jrs either. I think that was a big problem with the film; neither of the leads were likable. Sure, they had funny moments but they were both equally annoying and not someone the audience could relate to. Downey Jr plays a good a-hole and he does that extremely well. It's not that they didn't have good on-screen chemistry or that they didn't fit their roles, it's just there wasn't any redeeming qualities about either of them. With buddy road trip films, you have to like at least one of the characters and I didn't here.
In the end, "Due Date" received average reviews and for once, I actually agree with the critics about a Todd Phillips film. It's not a bad movie but it's just not great. For every joke that works, there are probably two that fail. It's an enjoyable film that I am glad I watched but probably not one I would want to add to my collection. I think with a little bit more character development and maybe a better and more well-rounded ending, it would have been a much better film. Since the film used characters similar to "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," it would have been nice if it used some of its heart as well. Its not something you will be upset when watching but you will just ultimately saying to yourself, "eh, it was OK." in the end. I think for a comedy, it's decent but than again great comedies don't happen every day.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Due Date" is a 5.5 out of 10.