Due Date
Sadly it’s another disappointing movie that makes it into number nine on out countdown of the worst movies of 2010 as Due Date failed to live up to expectations.
Due Date was the first movie from filmmaker Todd Phillips since the awesome The Hangover and so everyone was expecting a movie that was going to be just as great.
He had reunited with Zack Galifianakis, who has been flying high since his role as Alan, and had also roped in the talents of one Mr. Robert Downey Jr - a movie by this man is always worth a watch.
However it didn’t quite live up to the hype and was a major, can’t stress than enough, disappointment!
Peter Highman is an expectant first-time father whose wife's due date is a mere five days away.
As Peter hurries to catch a flight home from Atlanta to be at her side for the birth, his best intentions go completely awry when a chance encounter with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay forces Peter to hitch a ride with Ethan--on what turns out to be a cross-country road trip that will ultimately destroy several cars, numerous friendships and Peter's last nerve.
Due Date is perhaps not the comedy movie that we were all expecting as it really does lack laughs, yes there are some really funny moments but they are few and far between.
With Phillips back in the chair and a cast list that boasts Downey Jr and Galifianakis this is a movie that I really was looking forward to but to be honest I did leave the cinema more than a little disappointed.
Downey Jr does the best with what he has as the highly strung Peter but the script never really allows him to be at his comic best, which really is a major shame.
And you really do have to wonder what Downey Jr saw in this script when he first read - it really is a bit of a jumbled mess.
Galifianakis does deliver another very funny performance, in parts, however there is a sense of 'haven't we seen this all before?' Whether the actor has real range or is just a one trick pony does remain to be seen.
The major problem is neither Peter or Ethan are particularly nice characters - Peter is so highly strung it’s unreal and Ethan is quite frankly a weird pain in the ass.
So with not connection between the characters and the audience you don’t really care if the pair make it to the hospital in time or not!
However there really are some great moments, Ethan and Darryl drinking Ethan's father's ashes by mistake being a particular favourite. But sadly these laugh out loud moments are too few.
For a movie that has been marketed as a comedy with one of the hottest new talents behind the camera and comedy acting talent in the form of the two leads you do wonder how they managed to miss out so many laughs
Due Date is a perfectly fine, if somewhat forgettable road movie, but with the talent on the cast list it could have been so much more.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Robert Downey Jr