Rating:  

Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films, and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Written by: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips.

I have often subscribed to the notion that if a musician lands a major label recording contract or a film studio hires you to direct one of their films, those artists have the potential to make something terrific. Of course, what stands for terrific is purely subjective and always open to interpretation, but let me take that theory and apply it to director Todd Phillips.

To look at Phillips’ resume, you find a few notable films – “Starsky & Hutch” with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, “Road Trip” with Tom Green, and “Old School” with Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughan, and Luke Wilson. There are others, the disturbing documentary (debunked as something of a hoax) “Frat House” comes to mind, but Phillips basically stumbled around from project to project until he hit his “terrific” with “The Hangover” in 2009.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and providing the long overdue breakthrough for hard-working comedian and actor, Zach Galifianakis, “The Hangover” not only earned status as the largest grossing R-rated comedy of all time, but the film was a pop culture event in and of itself. Todd Phillips became a household name with that go-for-broke film and just over a year later, Phillips reunites with Galifianakis and adds in Robert Downey, Jr. for “Due Date”, a film so flat and bored with itself that Phillips may have just returned to the world of mediocrity that many thought he had left behind.

“Due Date” is really nothing more than a road trip movie, the type of which we see a couple of times a year. Robert Downey, Jr. plays Peter Highman, an architectural consultant heading home to Los Angeles after an inconveniently timed business trip to Atlanta. His wife is set to deliver their first child by C-section and with days to spare, Peter is anticipating a smooth trip home. At the airport drop off he crashes, literally, into Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis), an intriguing fellow who is haphazardly dressed, lacks social graces, and is as high as a kite in the wind. Peter cannot get away from Ethan fast enough and in his haste to get away, the time honored tradition of the mixed bags comes into play. (Ed. note: I rarely fly anywhere but honestly, does this EVER happen?)

Flying first-class Peter has an unlikely visitor as Ethan has received a convenient upgrade. When Peter and Ethan have a rather loud and unsettling exchange, the authorities intervene and suddenly, Peter and Ethan are placed on the federal government’s No-Fly List and are grounded in Atlanta. Ethan apologizes, states that he is traveling to Hollywood and with his newly acquired rental car, offers to drive Peter across country to get him home on time. It’s indeed the best of a bad situation and begrudgingly and without any other options, Peter hops in the car.

Much of “Due Date” is watchable and entertaining because of the chemistry and the great performances of Downey, Jr. and Galifianakis. The film’s ultimate demise comes not from a lack of humorous scenes and exchanges, but from having to work so hard in such a thin and maudlin storyline. You will laugh at moments in this film, initially in darker moments where a disabled Iraq War veteran (“Eastbound & Down”‘s Danny McBride) decimates Peter in an impromptu brawl, as well as some of the ridiculous comments and observations thrown around by Ethan. Soon, however, the film just becomes mean in spirit and tone; perhaps as an effort to place us in the mindset of Peter, who alludes to being a bad guy fairly often before he snaps and snaps again and snaps some more.

In addition to Danny McBride, Juliette Lewis and Phillips himself appear for a fleeting scene as a drug dealing couple that Ethan finds on Craigslist to help him with his glaucoma (wink, wink). Jamie Foxx is rather pointless as Darryl, a friend of Peter’s who picks them up in Dallas and then becomes another reason for Peter to get angry after Ethan interrogates Peter about connections from the past with Darryl and Sarah, Peter’s wife. Nothing more than stunt cameos, one after the other these appearances feel like favors Phillips called in to help flesh out his running time, perhaps once he realized that even with two inspired performances and four screenwriters, he simply needed more. As completed, “Due Date” runs 95 minutes and at times, Phillips seems desperate in trying to get us there.

When the movie takes a more emotional turn, it sits in direct contrast with the overall tone and spirit of the film and feels barren of any realness. “Due Date” wants to find its synergy between dark comedy, thoughtful drama, and wrap it all up in a nice bow. By the time we get to the end, the film’s bow has been torn apart, shredded, and frayed beyond repair.

Watching “Due Date” I wanted to like it more. I found humor within it and admired the efforts of Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. I can see people watching this and letting the funnier moments drown out the thematic failures which cripple the film’s success. For fans of “The Hangover”, and those expecting this to be in the same league, we have no naked Asian man in a trunk, no tiger, no missing tooth, no Vegas, and no Mike Tyson singing “In The Air Tonight” in a luxury hotel. Instead, we have the road trip movie again, albeit an R-rated variety, and one which will make fans of comedic films long for a plane, a train, or an automobile.

Should I See It?

“Due Date” will fall right in line with people who want to laugh at an adult-rated comedy and not give two thoughts about anything happening in front of them.

Fans of Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis will have plenty to enjoy here. The stunt casting and cameos will appeal to some people as well.

If you retain a particular obsession with road-trip movies as a genre, or love them personally, you kinda have to give this a whirl don’t you?

What’s good is wasted by a screenplay which, despite having four contributors, has no thematic voice. Many other films have bridged the comedy to the drama and the heartfelt moments effectively. Either Phillips’ team didn’t want to or didn’t care to, but this film has no rhythm.

I find it completely understandable if, after 20 minutes or so, you find Peter and Ethan to be completely unlikable and have no care whatsoever if they even make it to Los Angeles.

Watch these better road trip movies instead – “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Sideways”, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”, “Get Him To The Greek”, “Almost Famous”, “The Hangover”…all marry the heartfelt with the comedy and drama much more richer and more rewarding than this film could ever achieve.