Parto col folle

Due Date is a comedy of mass frustration. I'm not just talking about what happens to the characters in the film, no, this is simply a frustrating comedy sit through. Here is an all-too-familiar road picture that pins together two people who hate each other and sends them cross-country on a madcap adventure. Needless to say, one guy is an average Joe that we identify with and the other is a blithering idiot who makes every moment a nonstop irritation. If this sounds, at all like the great Planes, Trains and Automobiles, you're not far off the mark.

That earlier movie was a great American comedy. It was funny and endearing because we cared about both parties. We wanted to see Steve Martin get home and we cared about John Candy's shower ring salesman despite all his goofy inefficiencies. Here the Martin role is filled by a very sour Robert Downey Jr. as Peter Highman, an uptight yuppie on his way from Atlanta to Los Angelas to witness the birth of his first child. The John Candy role is filled by Zach Galifianakis, as Ethan, an irritant on two legs who gets Peter thrown off the plane when he won't stop saying the word "bomb". Neither of these two characters are really funny enough to spend any amount of time with.

Peter is probably a nice guy. He seems to care about his wife but he spends the entire movie in a state of boiling anger and that's probably because he is saddled with a guy so insufferable that he could turn even the gentlest soul into a state of rage. Through a series of mishaps, mostly thanks to Ethan's idiocy, they get into every kind of trouble including: A fight with a veteran in a wheelchair; vehicular theft at the Mexican border; a shooting; a car accident; and questions about whether Peter's wife is pregnant with his child.

None of this stuff is really funny. It all seems episodic and some of it is quite violent and unpleasant. I think some of the comic energy that should make these scenes work is missing. We cringe when we should be laughing. I also think that most of the film's failure falls on the head of actor Zach Galifianakis who always seems to illicit the same effect on me as a noisy car alarm. I have seen him in three films now and he always plays the same annoying character: An oddball doofus who has a never-ending repertoire of annoying and disgusting habits. Ethan is a pothead with an annoying dog and even more annoying habits - all of which get under Peter's skin and sadly ours too. His presence, I swear, brings this movie to a dead stop and since he occupies at least 90% of it, you can imagine how unpleasant this movie is.

Due Date was directed by Todd Phillips, who made The Hangover, one of my favorite films of recent years. What that film had was a collection of likable characters and a narrative structure that pulled us from beginning to end. Here his story an episodic series of annoying moments and mean-spirited characters. It ranges from disgusting to irritating to violent and finally soft and cuddly. The problem is that very very rarely ever funny.

** (of four)

Due Date. Me, my friend and the dog. A funny comedy about two "friends" who travel across the country with a dog. Robert Downey Jr. And Zach Galifianakis performed their roles perfectly and complemented each other.

The critics are being pretty harsh on this film, and yet they give high praise to such films like Role Models and Get Him to the Greek, so go figure. But I had a lot fun with Due Date, It was a fun slapstick misadventure, almost what we loved about The Hangover, so it is clear to say I don't agree with the critics on this one.

Peter(Robert Downey Jr) an architect looking to get home to his pregnant wife(Michelle Monaghan) who is expecting in a week. And when he gets on a plane, he quickly gets kicked off, when he gets into an unfortunate incident with Ethan(Zach Galifianakis) a pot smoking moron, and wanna be actor, who is obsessed with the show Two and a Half Men. When Peter is looking for new ways to get home. Ethan has a car and offers to drive him. Although it is against Peters better judgment, but feeling there is no other way, he goes with him. Will Peter make it on time for his child's birth, or will Ethan drive him nuts during this?

A lot of people said this is a Plane,Trains and Automobiles ripoff, but you know what who cares. This was a funny laugh out loud film. Downey and Galifianakis have funny chemistry, they just play off each other perfectly. Like The Hangover it is one entertaining misadventure, I say don't listen to the critics, see this movie and form your own opinion.

Saw it today at an advance screening in CU.

On one hand is a businessman, Peter Highman, who's trying to take a flight to LA to meet his wife who is about to have their child. On other hand is an aspiring actor, Ethan Tremblay, trying to make it big in Hollywood. They meet at the Atlanta airport and the adventure begins.

Having being denied boarding the flight, the reason for which I won't spoil here, they are forced to take a road trip to LA. Plus there's a dog with Ethan. Peter's already regretting the decision but has no choice. The next couple of days are full of surprises neither of them is ready for.

Feeling completely out of place, Peter is harassed by endless questions and embarrassed by outrageously hilarious behavior. He has no idea he will end up from a businessman in Atlanta to a guy with ripped clothes, a broken arm, a gunshot wound with handcuffs two days later.

There's never a dull moment in this movie, even though it has a few serious moments. It brings a refreshing feel to the movies this year and will make you laugh as much as, if not more than The Hangover. RDJ as always, is brilliant with the role of the utterly frustrated businessman who would kill Ethan if it was legal to do so. Zach is, well, perfect as the plump wannabe actor who says and does inappropriate things at the most inappropriate times. Get ready for another hilarious adventure from Todd Phillips! Oh and check yourself before you wreck yourself with laughter!

If there was one downside to come out of director Todd Phillips' magnum opus The Hangover, it's that every film he would lend his name to in the future would inevitably be compared to it, and it's fair to say Due Date comes up short in that regard. Saying that, the film has its strengths and the cast delivers an above-average final product, but it does little to stand out amongst most other comedies released in the last decade.

Downey Jnr. plays highly-strung expectant father Peter Highman, whose confrontation with Galifianakis' Ethan Tremblay at the airport results in both men being placed on a no-fly list. With no identification or cash to his name, Peter has no choice but to hitch a ride with Ethan if he wants to get to Los Angeles in time for the birth of his child. Ethan, meanwhile, has plans of making it big in Hollywood as a recurring character on Two And A Half Men, thus fulfilling his lifelong dream.

It almost goes without saying that this film would fall flat if chemistry between the two leads was lacking. Thankfully, both Downey Jnr. and Galifianakis, two of the more comically capable actors of their generation, do a respectable job with their characters. Ethan is particularly well crafted as an individual both physically and verbally funny, but at the same time one who harbours a deep emotional emptiness due to an innate need to make his late father proud of him.

Due Date must have felt like a reunion of sorts for Downey Jnr., who appears alongside three former co-stars in Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Jamie Foxx (The Soloist) and my favourite actress Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers). The first two fill their roles to satisfaction, but I was disappointed with how Lewis was used. Portraying a drug dealer supplying Ethan, who uses marijuana to 'deal with his glaucoma', her role is disappointingly minor, especially considering rumours that her character was meant to be an extension of Heidi from Old School, an earlier, and very funny, Phillips comedy.

For the most part, the film operates as a road trip comedy with a simple plot, which allows it to deviate from the story frequently to deliver humorous set pieces not at all relevant to the final scene. The best example is an escape plan hatched by Ethan to break Peter out of a detention centre when he is suspected of being an illegal immigrant. Of course, the scene plays out in the most ridiculous fashion, and requires a massive suspension of disbelief. But, pointless as they may be, these gags are tolerable due to the light-hearted context of the film, even if some jokes are hit and miss depending on your taste in humour and sense of political correctness.

More than once, you get the impression that Phillips and the rest of the crew are just going through the motions, putting a slightly new spin on otherwise recycled comedy. Overall, however, Due Date concludes nicely, delivering no more and no less that what should be expected.

*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review.*