Any road trip movie lives or dies on its cast — at least statistically. Pictures like National Lampoon’s Vacation or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles have departed little from the typical road trip formula, but those that succeeded did so because the actors made them fun to watch.
Due Date should, statistically, fall into the category of greatest success, taking two of the hottest actors of 2010 and pairing them together. Sadly, outliers always exist, and Due Date is one of them.Â
Any road trip movie lives or dies on its cast — at least statistically. Pictures like National Lampoon's Vacation or Planes, Trains, and Automobiles have departed little from the typical road trip formula, but those that succeeded did so because the actors made them fun to watch.
Due Date should, statistically, fall into the category of greatest success, taking two of the hottest actors of 2010 and pairing them together. Sadly, outliers always exist, and Due Date is one of them. {{page_break}}
Due Date turns disastrous quite quickly after Peter (Downey Jr.) meets Ethan (Galifianakis) at the airport just as he's getting ready to go home for the birth of his first child. Hijinks ensue, both get removed from the airplane, and they end up in a car together driving 1500 miles west. They drive, chaos ensues, etc.
There's really little to say about the plot because, frankly, you know exactly what happens. Sure, the specific disasters always change in a road trip film, and a few of them in Due Date do lead to some laughs, but this is about the most standard road trippin' plot ever put to film. They drive. They get into some trouble. They do something crazy to get out of trouble. They drive some more. Nothing about the actual plot ever approaches memorable.
In many cases, great actors could save a film like Due Date, but such is not the case here. Neither Downey Jr. or Galifianakis do much to improve the scenes, as most of the time they're stuffed together in a car being incompatible. They never form the sort of rapport that is expected in a good buddy movie, which can make the predictable "I love you man," conclusion seem painfully unbelievable.
Worst of all, they're not funny. Sure, there are instances where the situation will get a giggle out of you, and some man-on-child violence is fairly shocking, but the writing just isn't on par with a film like The Hangover, director Todd Phillips's previous film. The situations are less creative, the lines are less original, and the laughs just aren't there.
The film also underuses a pretty interesting supporting cast. Wu-Tang clan member RZA appears as a foul-mouthed TSA agent, but he does nothing more than say "f*ck" a few times before going on his merry way. Hilarious. Juliette Lewis sells pot to Galifianakis's character. Riveting. The film seems as if it had decided to have a supporting cast but had absolutely no idea what to do with it.
Due Date is remarkably difficult to recommend. If you like these actors, it will only lead you into a greater sense of disappointment as you see their talent continually wasted in each subsequent scene. Those who enjoy road-trip-buddy-type films will marvel at just how much worse this one is even than something like Road Trip.
While the occasional laugh might make you feel like this movie is worth at least a rental, it simply is not. It's better remembered as that one movie that you never bothered to see. Oh well.
Overall Score: 5.10 – Bad. (5s are movies that either failed at reaching the goals it set out to do, or didn’t set out to do anything special and still had many flaws. Some will enjoy 5s, but unless you’re a fan of this genre, you shouldn’t see it, and might not even want to rent it.)
A standard road trip movie if there ever were one, Due Date differentiates itself only by being worse than your typical "buddies on the road" flick. Don't bother with this one; wait for the next respective movies from Downey Jr. and Galifianakis.
Siobhan Watters:
Overall Score: 7.25 — An entertaining movie that is surprisingly NOT ruined by the trailer. Downey, Jr. and Galifianakis are an odd couple that sort of makes sense. You can read her full review here!
