Movies: Due Date Review
Robert Downey Jr. has said he’d be happy to just keep playing Sherlock Holmes and Iron Man for the rest of his career. While the thought of a string of movies featuring Conan Doyle’s celebrated sleuth and Marvel’s armoured superhero is extremely tantalising, it’s still good to see him utilising his particular talents in something a little different. Although he’s picked something of an oddity with director Todd (The Hangover) Phillips’ Due Date.
Downey plays Peter Highman, an uptight architect on his way home from Atlanta to LA to be with his pregnant wife (Michelle Monaghan) who is about to have their first child. As soon as he reaches the airport he immediately falls foul of Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), a weirdy beardy wannabe actor on his way to Hollywood with his French bulldog in tow. After a car is wrecked and bags mixed up, our conflicted pair end up in an inappropriate post-9/11 discussion on the plane and are subsequently ejected and put on the No Fly List. With no wallet and no money, Peter reluctantly accepts Ethan’s offer to drive him to LA. And, as Ethan’s father would say, it’s all uphill from there.
We’ve seen the road movie done a hundred times before and done better in films like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Midnight Run. Due Date is more like the former with all the added accoutrements of the modern comedy, such as sudden violence and gross-out humour including a masturbating dog. But the chemistry between the central pair never quite ignites. And you don’t feel that Peter and Ethan have grown or learned anything significant by the end of their journey. In fact, there’s quite a nasty streak running through the film and it’s hard to really care about the predicament of either of the characters. But there’s still a lot of fun to be had along the way including an (accidental) detour to Mexico (“I thought it said Texaco”) and an excellent cameo from Danny McBride.
In the end though, it’s Downey’s movie. He holds his own like a pro and makes the most of an unsympathetic part, refusing to be upstaged by a comedy slob or a bat-faced dog. Here’s hoping he continues to explore other roles away from Baker Street and crime-fighting millionaires.
Downey plays Peter Highman, an uptight architect on his way home from Atlanta to LA to be with his pregnant wife (Michelle Monaghan) who is about to have their first child. As soon as he reaches the airport he immediately falls foul of Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), a weirdy beardy wannabe actor on his way to Hollywood with his French bulldog in tow. After a car is wrecked and bags mixed up, our conflicted pair end up in an inappropriate post-9/11 discussion on the plane and are subsequently ejected and put on the No Fly List. With no wallet and no money, Peter reluctantly accepts Ethan’s offer to drive him to LA. And, as Ethan’s father would say, it’s all uphill from there.
We’ve seen the road movie done a hundred times before and done better in films like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Midnight Run. Due Date is more like the former with all the added accoutrements of the modern comedy, such as sudden violence and gross-out humour including a masturbating dog. But the chemistry between the central pair never quite ignites. And you don’t feel that Peter and Ethan have grown or learned anything significant by the end of their journey. In fact, there’s quite a nasty streak running through the film and it’s hard to really care about the predicament of either of the characters. But there’s still a lot of fun to be had along the way including an (accidental) detour to Mexico (“I thought it said Texaco”) and an excellent cameo from Danny McBride.
In the end though, it’s Downey’s movie. He holds his own like a pro and makes the most of an unsympathetic part, refusing to be upstaged by a comedy slob or a bat-faced dog. Here’s hoping he continues to explore other roles away from Baker Street and crime-fighting millionaires.
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