Due Date

The elephant in the room, of course, is The Hangover which is one of the best comedies of the last decade or so. Due Date stars one of the stars of that film, Zach Galifianakis, and is also from the same writer / director. So, is it as good as The Hangover? Well, of course not. But did anyone really expect it to be? I tried to keep my expectations at a minimum so I wouldn't be disappointed. It sort of worked.
The story is simple - Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) is a first time expectant father and he is rushing home to Los Angeles from Atlanta for the scheduled C-section birth of his baby (with is the lovely and underused Michelle Monaghan). Well, he manages to get thrown off his plane thanks to a run in with a loony named Ethan (Galifianakis) who likes to throw around the words "terrorist" and "bomb" while on a plane. Not only do they get thrown off the plane, but also they find themselves on a do not fly list. It seems Peter's wallet with his credit cards and money is in his bag on the plane en route to Los Angeles so he can't even rent a car. Luckily though, Ethan can and they begin a road trip. Of course, craziness ensues - run ins with crazy pot dealers (Juliette Lewis) and crazier Western Union employees (Danny McBride) as well as car accidents and an ill fated trip to Mexico. Jamie Foxx shows up as Peter's bestie who may or may not have had an affair with his wife nine months ago. Also, Peter has a dog named Sonny, a cremated father in a coffee can (which they drink, of course) and wants to move to Hollywood to be an actor on Two and a Half Men, his favorite TV show.
So, that's the plot in a nut shell. Does it work? Sometimes. The film starts off insanely slow. In fact, the first half is a little boring. But it starts to get better (more laughs, better pacing) somewhere in eastern Texas. So, the second half is a whole lot better than the first. The ladies of the film are terribly underused. Foxx merely has a cameo. McBride does his same old funny asshole shtick (which I still love because I love him). So, ultimately this movie belongs to its leads and on that level, it most certainly works. These two guys have a chemistry together. Even though Galifianakis is playing a version of the same character he always does, he's still funny. I know a day is going to come when I get really sick of him, like Michael Cera, but that day hasn't arrived yet. All in all, Due Date is a lot of fun as long as you don't expect the greatness of The Hangover.
Grade: C