Robert Downey Jr. plays Peter, a serious and sometimes pretentious architect who crosses paths with Zach Galifianakis' Ethan on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles. After Peter is grounded due in part to Ethan's obnoxious behavior without money or an ID, the two join forces to drive the distance so Peter can make it to the birth of his first child. From the start, both actors have a good, yet almost combative, chemistry as Galifianakis plays Ethan like a long-lost twin to his Hangover character and Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark stripped of any humor or playfulness.
Certain sequences and exchanges by the duo and also with help by the likes of Danny McBride turn out well enough to trick you into thinking that this is a straight-forward, nonsensical comedy. However, interspersed with the comedic elements are portions that feel like they are lifted from an entirely different movie. Ethan has just lost his father and is determined to break into Hollywood because his dad was supportive of the endeavor, no matter how ill-conceived it is. Meanwhile, Peter is not only concerned with getting home for the birth but also has brief reflections on his own deadbeat father and questions about his wife's loyalty.
Largely, these parts are not played for laughs, but more for a character-driven moment or two. I am not one to argue against heavier scenes in certain context but these parts are completely unexpected bookended by scenes of Galifianakis being clumsy or Downey Jr. being so enraged that he spits in a dog's face. Unlike Hughes' PT&A which was largely grounded in reality (even if it might be an improbable reality), Due Date is more of a ludicrous tale with questionable outcomes which make those soft, tender scenes all the more abrupt in their shift.
That said, certain parts of the movie are quite funny, especially from Peter as he is constantly squabbling with the man-child Ethan. Seeing as how we have all known people like Ethan, to lesser extents hopefully, Peter's reactions to Ethan are genuine even if that paints him as kind of a dick. Watching the movie, you can tell that both Downey Jr. and Galifianakis had fun with their respective roles. Galifianakis is the highlight here just as in Hangover as Ethan is the complete opposite of cool and/or suave, but he is simply oblivious to that fact.
Aside from the aforementioned problem with the script as it clumsily shoehorns in the Lifetime movie moments into the narrative, Phillips' direction here is not as good as what he has shown before. Instead of everything being mostly tight and compact, several sequences are drawn out dangerously long to the point that things becoming boring, and incidentally most of these scenes are in the cheesy-drama category. Perhaps there was more in depth here than in the final cut as there are more moments in the final quarter of the movie as Peter begins to level out and embrace Ethan, and his quirks to an extent. It is also worth noting that Phillips' obligatory cameo has been extended from the few seconds like all of his previous films to a few minutes here. It may be unrelated but given the unevenness of the pacing I thought it was interesting as maybe he was trying a few new things here.
Know that going into this movie, it will not be a laugh riot. In fact, for as many clever, if slightly cliched and predictable, sequences, there are two to three more that tonally feel wildly out of place. So while Downey Jr. and Galifianakis turned in great performances, the rest of Due Date was not as satisfying.
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