REVIEW: Due Date

Why in pluperfect hell would you pee on a corpse?

The Hangover's success has less to do with Zack Galifianakis then people think. Or anybody actually in the movie to be honest. No I think it did well because A) It was a studio comedy that didn't outright suck and B) It was a simple, fun premise that everyone could get from the poster, and it managed to follow through on being simple and fun. But Galifianakis was kind of heralded as the next big comedy star, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think he works best on the fringes, being weird in weird universes and in interesting ways. But if he is to be the successful, then he's going to be weird in decidedly safe ways in decidedly safe movies. And that quickly grows to be no fun at all.

It's OK for now, because Galifiniakis is working at such a furious rate, he's pretty much giving everyone what they want. But just so he and you know, that can not and will not last for too long. Due Date is a lesser movie, for sure. Its thin and kind of stupid, although to be fair the day a Todd Phillips movie goes for a smart joke, is the day to set your watches for because it'll be the day that a black hole forms right out of Martin Freeman's face and consumes all but the saved. But I think the presence of Robert Downey Jr saves this movie. To be clear, he's no Paul Rudd white bread straight man. There's something emphatic, something cooler and something more dynamic about Downey Jr when he does comedy, so even in lesser material like this, he's still a striking presence. Whilst Galifianakis kinds of gets sucked in to the middle of the roadness of it, emerging as the kind of rent an oddball you are used to finding in films such as this, and that is disappointing. He feels reined in, and that is of no use to no-one. Still its not a laughless watch, and this is an interesting pairing of two actors who've two very different styles. And occasionally it works. Not as often as you'd like, but I'd watch Downey Jr see red in any movie.

I did kind of like that the movie tried to create characters for these guys, rather then just letting them entirely autopilot. Similarly its just about these two guys and generally remains loyal to that idea. A good movie to take in and let go as soon as you leave the room. Movies can do that in different ways, but I think generally this is the right kind of superfluous.

Rating: 6/10