Due Date: movie review
Robert Downey Jr. plays the straight man in 'Due Date,' a goony comedy that's low on laughs.
Zach Galifianakis (l.) and Robert Downey Jr. are shown in a scene from 'Due Date.'
Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros./AP
“Due Date” is the cinematic equivalent of a hangover from “The Hangover” – not surprising, since that film’s director, Todd Phillips, and costar Zach Galifianakis are repeat offenders here. It’s slobby, goony, and gross, also occasionally funny, but not occasionally enough.
Galifianakis plays Ethan, a sweet-souled one-man wrecking crew whom we first encounter in the Atlanta airport accidentally shearing the door off a chauffered town car. The occupant of said town car is Robert Downey Jr.’s Peter, an uptight architect anxious to fly home to Los Angeles in time for the birth of his first child. Through a series of serio-comic machinations that place them on a no-fly list, Ethan and Peter end up sharing a cramped rental car back to L.A.
Downey is not entirely comfortable playing straight man and a little of Galifianakis’s antics – he’s like all Three Stooges rolled into one – goes a long way. If the comic premise of this film appeals to you, you’d be better off renting “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” with John Candy and Steve Martin. Grade: C (Rated R for language, drug use and sexual content.)
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