I’m writing under the assumption that anyone contemplating seeing Due Date has definitely seen The Hangover. If this is not the case, you should definitely buy, not rent, The Hangover before watching Due Date…it’s better. Read on, but know that Due Date does not equal The Hangover.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, and everyone can stop smashing Zach Galifianakis into his tiny Hangover box, we’re ready to move on.
Due Date is about Peter (Robert Downey Jr.), a successful Los Angeles business man, who has an unfortunate run in with Ethan (Zach Galifianakis), a mourning wannabe actor, that turns into the longest week of his life. After both men land themselves on a no-fly list 2000 miles from LA, Ethan offers Peter a ride back to California where Peter’s pregnant wife is days away from giving birth.
You can probably imagine that Downey and Galifianiakis make a hilarious duo. Downey’s expertise in dry, sarcastic humor and Galifianakis’s balls-to-the-wall character acting create a money-making dynamic. Galifianakis is as over-the-top as he was in The Hangover, but offers a unique talent of not playing the exact same character he did in The Hangover.
Considering his work in It’s Kind of a Funny Story (yeah, I know you didn’t see it), and what he surprisingly brings to his role as Ethan in Due Date, I look forward to Galifianakis’s run in Hollywood. He has some dynamic qualities that may make him the next big thing. As far as Robert Downey Jr.’s contribution to the movie goes, he is always brilliantly awesome, so there’s not much more to say about that.
Three things set Due Date apart from your typical comedy: setting, theme, and its third, four-legged star. This near cross country road trip takes the men to a few unique stops including the U.S.-Mexico border and Grand Canyon. Peppering in some familiar locations and political issues create an intelligent layer of attachment between the audience and storyline.
The plot digs deeper than most laugh out loud comedies into issues of death, life, trust, and friendship. No one subject gets too preachy or overbearing, but the added takeaways help connect it all together. Finally, that frickin’ adorable little dog. This movie is what it is because of Sunny, the cutest and most awesome French bulldog looking thing anyone has ever seen. It can’t be easy working an animal so perfectly into a storyline, so I commend the people behind that idea.
All that being said, I must move on to one more thing Due Date (unfortunately) does to set it self apart. The instances are few and far between when one particular scene in a film gives me a dirty turned off feeling about the entire movie. Congrats, Due Date, you’ve managed to have one. So, it’s true, sex sells, but there are certain solo activities that should be kept in the bedroom and not on a giant screen. You’ll know exactly what I’m talking about when you see the movie.
Slapstick shock-and-awe in movies is far passed its glory days. The phrase “over the top” definitely comes to mind, and not even in a Ken Jeong’s wang is out in The Hangover kind of way… i.e. more funny than disturbing. I’m no prude, but there is a reason scenes get cut out of movies, and someone should have realized there were about a million ways to cut this one.
Because of that, I’m forced to give Due Date 3 out of 5 reels.
