'Due Date' Movie Review

Writer/director Todd Phillips follows up the successful The Hangover with Due Date, another R-rated comedy featuring men who behave badly. Phillips brings back Hangover's Zach Galifianakis, pairs him up with the most unlikely co-star, Robert Downey Jr, and sets them on a cross-country road trip. Think Planes, Trains and Automobiles but with a 15 pound French bulldog as a central character and masturbation as a punch line.

The Hangover stands as the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, and Due Date's sure to attract a good amount of moviegoers based solely on the fact it's a Todd Phillips film with one of the Hangover guys. And having Robert Downey Jr for Galifianakis to play off of just adds to its box office appeal. Unfortunately, what audiences will find is that Due Date's not nearly as funny as The Hangover and has two of the most irritating characters you could possibly imagine as focus of the film.

Strangely, it's when the irritating twosome aren't working off of each other and instead have a third party involved in their shenanigans that Due Date delivers. Jamie Foxx, Danny McBride, Matt Walsh, and Juliette Lewis all put in appearances, elevating the comedy to a near-Hangover level during their regrettably small scenes. But when Downey Jr and Galifianakis are left to carry the load, the laughter comes at a slower pace [and it doesn't help that the funniest bits between the two are in the film's trailers]. However, Phillips isn't going for straight comedy here. Despite the fact he packs the film with raunchy humor, improbable car crashes/chase scenes, and a couple of scenes in which the guys must be smoking the best pot on the planet, Phillips and his three co-writers mix in equal portions of drama. Some of the more serious scenes work; some only serve to slow the film down.

The Story:

Peter Highman is a well-dressed, uptight architect who needs to return home to LA in order to be present at the birth of his first child. Peter knows it will happen in just a couple of days because he and his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monaghan), have scheduled the birth by cesarean section.

Ethan Tremblay is a wannabe actor, a man-child carrying his dead father's ashes in a coffee can. Ethan wants to get to Hollywood (not Los Angeles, as he stresses to Peter), has a packet full of head shots and unbridled optimism about his chances for a career in the entertainment world.

Under normal circumstances, Peter and Ethan would never meet. But they do, and that sets in motion a chain of events that could only happen in a road trip comedy. Ethan and Peter's vehicles run into each other outside the airport, their baggage gets mixed up, the words 'bomb' and 'terrorist' are uttered on a plane, and voila! Peter and Ethan are both placed on the no-fly list by an unforgiving TSA agent (Matt Walsh) who suggests that if Forrest Gump could make his way cross country, then Peter's sure to be able to handle the logistics.

However, Peter doesn't have his luggage and has lost his wallet thus making it impossible to rent a car. Ethan's got a limited amount of money and no social skills but a big heart, so he offers the unfriendly architect a ride to California.

Now Peter, he doesn't just dislike Ethan, he hates him. He hates his clothes, his dog, his perm, hates the questions he asks, and is not supportive at all of Ethan's career choice. Ethan accepts that Peter is basically a massive jerk but tries to get along with him anyway. Did I mention Ethan's a little off and is barely able to function without someone reminding him to use the toilet?

As they make their way toward the West Coast, Peter and Ethan go through a series of trials and tribulations - purchasing pot, launching their car off a freeway overpass, making a wrong turn into Mexico - before finally realizing they might just be friends. Just like you knew they would figure out from the get-go.

The Acting

Robert Downey Jr always elevates any project he's attached to, and he's great in Due Date, even though his character rarely ceases to annoy. Zach Galifianakis isn't stretching much from his Hangover character. Maybe this guy's a little more schleppy and less intelligent, but otherwise it's pretty much the same socially-backward guy he brought to life onscreen in The Hangover. Michelle Monaghan's sadly underutilized, but the rest of the supporting players bring their A-games to their brief stints in the film.

The Bottom Line

Due Date has the whole circle of life thing covered (but without the catchy Elton John song), with Downey Jr racing home to his pregnant wife and Galifianakis cradling his father's ashes. And there are some truly touching moments when Galifianakis as Ethan expresses how much he misses his dad. Phillips and his team of co-writers constantly change up the tone of the film, trying to give the anti-buddy road trip a deeper meaning and thus provide their actors with the chance to play a full range of emotions. This would work better if we ever really embraced either of these two men, but we can't because while they have redeeming qualities, neither are people we'd want to ever accompany on a drive to the grocery story much less across the country.

I'm going to bet that other than the "you better check yourself before you wreck yourself" line moviegoers won't walk away quoting this film the way audiences did with Old School or The Hangover. However, Due Date is sprinkled with some great lines and a few of the setups are hysterical. When Jamie Foxx serves Galifianakis and Downey coffee made from Zach's dad's ashes, it's both gross and hilarious. And no, that's not a spoiler as the bit's featured prominently in TV commercials. There are also a few funny scenes involving the dog and one particularly memorable scene in which Downey Jr delivers a gut shot to a character you'd never expect him to punch.

Due Date does have its funny moments, but it pales in comparison with Phillips' The Hangover, which was so successful, so funny, and begs comparison because it is still relatively fresh in audiences' minds.

GRADE: B-/C+

Due Date was directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for language, drug use and sexual content.

Theatrical Release: November 5, 2010

Disclosure: This review is based on a screening provided by the studio. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.