In the Theatre with Kevin Murphy - Due Date - Warner Bros.

In every persons life their is a certain day that has been set in stone since the day you were born. Unfortunately you are bound to run into a few “deterrents” on the car ride. Tonight on In the Theatre with Murphy we will be discussing the biggest “deterrent” in a mans life with Due Date, with Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis and I would say Due Date is the a rather big deterrent for me to review.

Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is wanting to get home to Los Angeles to see the birth of his first child but is put on a no fly list after saying the T word in front of another passenger who also says the word resulting in both of them losing their flight and Peter misplacing his wallet. The other passenger Ethan (Zach Galifanakis) decides to make it up to him by driving both of them to Las Angeles. On the trip both of them prove to be the thorn in the others side as they continue to stray over where they really need to go and why.

From Todd Phillips I really did expect more after he did the Hangover which was one of the smartest comedies Ive seen in years. But this film is not nearly as good or as actively written. When I say actively written what I mean is its more original (if its a original script) or more respectable towards its source material (if adapted). With this movie I don't see hardly any originality. Looking at this film it seems to be a bit of mix between Road Trip and the Hangover and I do think Todd Phillips could have done a lot more to make Due Date more original.

The large reason I don't see much originality is mainly because of its leads. Zach G's character is far too similar to his character Alan from the Hangover. For example both of them have mental quirks and say the most random nonsense that makes what I say sound like Edger Alan Poe. When you see this movie it almost seems like its a spin off for is character from the Hangover and I didn't find anything unique or interesting from his character that I haven't seen before. Don't get me wrong I think he is a good comedian and when he needs to be he is very good at sensitive and emotional scenes. Jr on the other hand I thought was ok. Many of the scenes he is in often involve his in a very bad and comical mood making you wanna laugh your ass of because they are either so random or dangerous in a funny way that would kill a man instantly.

I didn't like the chemistry between the leads. The reason is that although both men are very funny, they are only funny in their own way. This means they both have their own style of comedy. Galifanakis style is very slapstick, pop culture and improve, relying on other sources to make a situation funny and using it at the most random time thinking “where the hell does e come up with this shit”. Jr. On the other hand relies on a more direct approach to his comedy such as Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes and by this I mean he intentionally makes fun of his targets and knows what he is talking about it knows when to say it to please his audience. I just think the two of them are two different to at least star in the same move. Its like Jr is from Neptune (Cool Blue humor) and Galifanakis is from Uranus (You know what type of humor Im talking about). 

As much as you think I hated this film with all my heart and soul their were some parts to it I did like. Their were a few jokes that I found very funny but I will remain silent about them for the audiences sake. One part I absolutely loved was the cinematography of the western USA . In many shots they showcase some incredible landscapes and I would say the director wanted to showcase the bright side of two very different people travelling together they can see some pretty great sights to get their mind of how much they dislike each other and gives them a chance to think about someone other than themselves, but this mostly applies to Jr's character.

So this movie isn't as good as the Hangover or some of Todd Phillips other work. The major reason I didn't like it was because many of it is just a repetition of his early work like Road Trip and the Hangover. Although the writing style is similar I do think they could have made this movie more original.

My Rating: 1/4 Shamrocks