Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Due Date (2010) Review





director: Todd Phillips

writer: Alan R. Cohen, Allan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, Todd Phillips

starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifanakis

genre: Comedy







Last year no one was expecting the Hangover to be that much of a success not only at the box office but also with critics. Filmmaker Todd Phillips has moved up the ladder with films like Starsky & Hutch and the Hangover making a name of himself as one of the best known filmmakers in the genre of comedy. He might not be Judd Apatow with a better in his sense of emotion and meanings in his films, but he is well known for his ability to bring out laugh out loud situations into fruition. His new film Due Date is no different at being the most hilarious film of the year.







Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is on his way back to L.A. from a business to trip to be at his child birth. A simple trip back from Atlanta goes amock when he meets Ethan Tremblay (Zack Galifanakis) an inspiring and peculiar actor. Peter now stuck in Atlanta and without a way back home, is given the opportunity to get there on time only if he accompanies the weird actor Ethan on a road trip. This trip will be a waking call for the both of them, as they will open up to complete strangers and do things that they never thought possible.





Now Due Date is extremely funny. The jokes are phenomenal and never drag on. Also in my opinion some are even better than the Hangover. But what overall makes the film so good, isn't just the situations and jokes but the well defined characters. Both Peter and Ethan are unique and have very good funny and touching moments in the film. All this of course is helped by the fact that they are are played by two of the biggest names in the business today Downey Jr. and Galifanakis.





The film is not without its faults besides the great comedy. It could have been done better by paying more attention to its story and in effect making the film much more deeper. This could have been done if there was a bigger connection made between Peter's character and his wife. Also the film ends on fine note with no plot holes but also with no insight on the relationships of Peter and Ethan and how they changed. Maybe this would have made the film too much of a happy ending, but I wouldn't have said no to seeing these two characters on screen for a little while longer.





Besides the gripes I might have Due Date is still recommend to all and is the funniest film I've seen this year. It might not be as epic as the Hangover for some, but prevails it in my opinion by not going to overboard with its plot and relying on good old jokes and the relationship between the two main characters then a overall setup that falls flat in the end.



Personal Rating:




Review by Paul

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