Visiting a movie theatre is not what is used to be. There once was a time where you could just buy a ticket, get your refreshments and wait for the doors to open, no more. It seems that visiting a cinema needs to be an “experience”. At least that was what I found out when visiting to see this movie.
The theatre I go to (called Pathé) has special Ladies nights, which I was not aware of. It’s quite succesful as most of the people walking around were actually women. To cater to these women they were selling clothing, makeup etcetera and a lot of women were buying. It was something I was not prepared for. After finally managing to get through the crowd it was time to watch Due Date, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis.
Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is an architect who is about to become a father. He’s planning to fly back to Los Angeles after finishing a job to witness the birth of his child. Unfortunately his plan does not seem to work out once he meets Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis). They are both thrown off the plane and are written down on a no-fly list. Without a wallet Peter doesn’t have any options to get home. When Ethan offers a ride to him, he doesn’t have a choice and reluctantly accepts. It is not going to be the ride he is expecting.
Galifianakis plays the same role he did in the Hangover, a strange guy who is kind of a loner. Ethan turns out to have some strange habits (for example the way he makes himself fall asleep) and Peter is not sure he still wants to travel with him. They end up in a couple of strange situations, like fighting a guy in a wheelchair, Peter having some problem with a little boy and an unexpected meeting with the border patrol. Not all these things are funny and some of them seem to be written just to shock the viewer, which somehow doesn’t seem to work as often as it should. There are enough things to laugh about but in the end this movie just doesn’t match the brilliance of The Hangover, which is disappointing with such talented actors.
Score: 6
I thought it would have been a lot funnier with these two head-lining it, but I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover, and this book, or film, just sucked!