Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover, reteams with Zach Galifianakis (It’s Kind of a Funny Story) joined by Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) in a retelling of the classic buddy road trip comedy. This genre was originally pioneered by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby with movies like On the Road to Morocco. A more contemporary and applicable comparison can be made to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, which starred Steve Martin and the late John Candy.
Much like that film, the story involves very different men trying to get cross country. In this case Downey’s character Peter Highman is trying to get home where his pregnant wife will soon go into labor. While at the airport he meets Galifianakis’s Ethan Tremblay, an eccentric aspiring actor on his way to Hollywood. A series of shenanigans gets both men kicked off their plane and placed on a no fly list. Having lost his wallet and ID, Highman is forced to accept Tremblay’s offer to drive with him to Los Angeles.
Some cameo appearances from the likes of Juliette Lewis (Old School), Jamie Foxx (Ray) and Danny McBride (Up in the Air) pepper the film, but Galifianakis and Downey Jr carry the movie and without it I'm not sure Due Date would be anything more than a direct to DVD Redbox rental. The chemistry is good between the two of them, as their comedic styles are different enough to mesh well; but having Downey Jr. try and play an angry straight man to Galifianakis' oblivious immature character didn't totally work for me. Both of these guys have top notch comic minds and perhaps having them try and get a long more than be adversaries would have worked out better. If you want someone to be more of a straight man, casting Downey Jr. probably isn't the best idea. Finding someone who legitimately isn't funny would have provided better balance. Still, in the moments where the two men aren't trying to avoid some sort of ridiculous disaster, the banter between them is outstanding.
Movies like this face the uphill battle of having to create a plausible premise despite the ridiculous information age we live in. No longer can two people simply be stranded together without much explanation; because even 15 or 20 years ago characters wouldn’t have had the modern conveniences of cell phones, 4g networks, and social media which would allow them almost instantaneous solutions to their problems. Not having the luxury of being made in the 1980s, Due Date is forced to concoct a series of events that negates each of these potential solutions. It isn’t the most elegant setup, but works well enough that disbelief can be suspended and the story move forward.
It is a story that is not without a least a few attempts at some depth. Rather than simply have Peter and Ethan jump from one comical circumstance to the other Phillips attempted to weave in some subplots with substance. Unfortunately these remain just that, subplots and are never given as much due as the two journeymen trying not to kill each other. Accusations of adultery and dealing with the loss of a parent are both sub-themes that Peter and Ethan try to grapple with, and in those scenes where the themes push themselves out ahead of the funny, the movie scores nicely. But this is a comedy and always was intended to be so. While the attempts at some emotion and character expansion are noble, they just don’t seem like they were given as much thought as how far the rental car should fly off the overpass.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The special features here are a little bare bones. No full length behind the scenes feature or commentary is present with the film, and most of the extras are merely distillations of the movie’s funnier moments. There are mash ups of both all the action scenes in the film, along with all the questions that Ethan peppers Peter with during their journey. A gag reel and deleted scenes section are also included but there is little of note here, and both are very brief. Finally, the complete scene from Two and a Half Men that is partially seen in the movie is available. Again, it isn’t much longer and you won’t feel at all like you missed out.
"Due Date" is on sale February 22, 2011 and is rated R. Comedy. Directed by Todd Phillips. Written by Alan R. Cohen. Starring Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Zack Galifianakis.
