BY MIKEY MIGO
I was really excited for Due Date when I first heard about it. Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis were fresh off The Hangover and Robert Downey Jr. was due an R rated comedy. So that’s enough to get me on board. Then I find out more about the plot. It’s a road trip comedy where Downey Jr. plays an uptight guy whose wife is ready to pop across country, Galifianakis is a crazy and weird aspiring actor, and for some wacky reason these two are on the road together. It’s nothing revolutionary. Switch some things about and it’s the same plot as Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or at least in the same ball park as Tommy Boy. Story structure isn’t what drew people to this movie. Its jokes and hi-jinxes. There were plenty, but in a weird way. It just didn’t click. There were a few ongoing jokes, a few over the top antics, and some cameos. You get everything you expect to get from this movie, but the laughs. For instance, I am always happy to see Danny McBride, but his scene was just there. It was amusing but I didn’t laugh. It turns out the movie isn’t quite what the trailer made it out to be. It’s not nearly as funny and has a lot of heart. In fact, it brought three things to light. The first is that this movie is Todd Phillip’s most mature movie. It’s still a dirty comedy, but it has some maturity and a tad more responsibility. It’s kind of like Todd is growing up through his movies. Road Trip was a college movie, Old School was a holding on to college movie, Hangover is a married movie, and this is a having a baby movie. I’m probably looking way too much into it, but I appreciate my untrained psychiatric assumption. Secondly, Robert Downey Jr. half assed this movie. I am a fan of his, but I’ve realized I can pick up when he’s just there to be there. He was like this in Charlie Bartlett and a few other movies. He’s definitely not giving that Less Than Zero passion push or the “comic genius” thing he did in Tropic Thunder. It’s like he’s just coasting through the movie. On paper the casting is awesome, but it didn’t work for me. People might of groaned at the recycled casting, but I’d of much rather of seen someone like a Bradley Cooper or Luke Wilson in this spot. They’d of done the same thing, but without the sense of entitlement. It’s a bummer to think Robert Downey Jr. has turned the corner into being an “act-tore” instead of just a cool actor. Nevertheless, the one thing I got out of this movie most is a glimpse at the potential acting chops for Galifianakis. For a few seconds he does Brando’s part in The Godfather. It’s kind of silly, sure, but it shows he can do more than just be the weird eccentric bearded guy. There are a few other moments that show off a tease of acting chops. I’ve heard people say that they should make a John Belushi bio pic with Zach as the lead. I can totally see that now. This isn’t so much a bad movie, it’s just not great. It’s going to be a fine movie to catch on basic cable on a Sunday afternoon in a few years. There’s nothing wrong with that at all, but if you were expecting a sequel to Hangover then you have some waiting to do. B-
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