Todd Phillips’ last movie; The Hangover; was the breakaway comedy that nobody expected, and summarily plunged the world into fits of laughter, and surprising amazement, when it became the biggest comedy of 2009, despite featuring a relatively unknown cast, and having been written by fairly inexperienced writers, and now, one year on, he’s attempting to replicate that success with his new movie; Due Date.
Due Date is the tale of a father; Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr., Iron Man); who’s attempt to travel across the U.S. in time to get home for the birth of his son; which he conveniently knows will be taking place in a matter of a few short days (as his wife is booked in for a caesarean section); but ends up being unable to fly, and getting tied to a bumbling, and unbearable, man that he cannot stand; Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover).
The pair first meet outside the airport where they are both boarding the same plane to Los Angeles; and take an instant dislike to each other, thanks to a car crash, some knocked over luggage, and a baggage mix-up that results in some awkward questions, embarrassing moments, and the confiscation of some undesirable materials; but their relationship takes its first major blow on them, and their journey, when Ethan begins uttering some words that you really shouldn’t use on commercial flights, and gets both men placed on the official no fly list, causing them to rent a car, and try and drive across country in time to catch the birth of Peter’s first child.
Normally Peter wouldn’t dream of sharing a car with a stranger; especially one as infuriating as Ethan; but he soon realises that he has no choice in the matter, when he finds that his wallet was left on the plane, and the permed imbecile that insists on asking him as many questions as he can, may be his only shot of getting home in time.
After the consistently happy, naive, and gullible Ethan then sets off on his journey with the reluctant, cranky, and quick to anger, Peter, they find themselves in a series of misadventures that take them all across the continental U.S. (often ending up way off course, for little reason other than to make a ‘quick’ pit stop), and land them in the home of a drug dealer, on the wrong side of a violent cripple, and in several car accidents, that also lead to hospital trips, car changes, and a tussle with the Mexican border police.
But despite all the adventure, it’s the relationship between Ethan and Peter that keeps the film not only hilariously funny, but interesting, as literally everything that Ethan does winds Peter up in some manner or another, and yet there’s an inescapable bond between them, that makes their arguments, reconciliations, conversations, and flat-out fights, totally believable; because despite how outrageous, and downright stupid, Ethan may be, he’s clearly a very damaged human being, who’s only searching for a friend, and suffering from a real sense of loss (perfectly illustrated by the fact that he’s carrying round his father’s ashes in a coffee can). And Zach Galifianakis is excellent at playing both roles; that of the innocent, yet disturbingly creepy, boob (that’s almost exactly like his character from The Hangover), and the tragic man trying to mask his inner sadness; and perfectly manages to flip between emotional content, and generating some hilariously inappropriate laughs.
One of the key things about Zach’s performance; timing; is also something that Rob gets perfectly, as while many viewers known him as the enigmatic Tony Stark from Iron Man, the eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes, or from his more serious roles (such as in Zodiac, or Natural Born Killers), comedy is actually where he first started, and he certainly has lost any of the comedy magic that first made him a star; as his performance as the often irked, anger-prone, architect, that’s just trying to get home, but finds himself in a series of absurd situations, and disastrous events, is spot-on, and hilariously funny, simply because of how quick, and how straight, he plays it.
Due Date is in fact a basic remake of the comedy classic, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; as it borrows exactly the same premise, in having a father needing to get home for an important occasion (in this case replacing Christmas with the birth of a child), placing him in a situation where flying is impossible, and forcing him to spend time with a slightly overweight companion that would get on anybody’s nerves; replacing Steve Martin’s (Cheaper by the Dozen) straight-laced character with Robert Downey Jr.’s, and placing Zach Galifianakis in the role of the terribly annoying, and socially incumbent, cohort, once played by John Candy (Uncle Buck).
The characters in Due Date however have been updated somewhat (and don’t actually use trains); as Peter is much more believable, and less cartoonish, than Steve Martin’s character was, and while Ethan is still suffering from a loss similar to John Candy’s (replacing a dead wife, with a dead father), he’s also much less afraid of stepping over personal boundaries, and is even more of an accident prone idiot, that’s not afraid to laugh in the face of etiquette, and tell the world exactly how he feels, and how he’s messed up.
But in an age where just about anything goes, it’s hard to release comedies that feel fresh, and not simply like a rehash of anything that has come before; as just about every outrageous stunt that you can think of, no matter how rude, crude, or downright disgusting, has already been shown; yet somehow Todd manages to do it yet again, by using a tried and tested formula (placing two inherently incompatible buddies on a road trip together), and updating it for a new generation; even getting laughs from jokes he used in The Hangover; if you thought watching a baby pretend to masturbate was shocking, then Due Date takes that joke to a whole new level.
And that’s the gist of Due Date; it’s a buddy comedy, that generates a huge amount of laughs all of the way through (as there’s never a period of longer than a couple of minutes where you won’t be laughing), and takes the traditional comedy used in those, and other road trip movies, and successfully updates it for the next generation; it’s not quite as funny as The Hangover, but it’s guaranteed to get a huge number of laughs, as it stays not only funny, and shocking (which is hard to do with today’s relaxed attitudes), but interesting throughout, as it has a decent story, and characters that are easy to care about.
There’s a couple of notable cameo appearances that are worth looking out for; including an appearance from Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killers), as a drug-dealing mother of two, and Jamie Foxx (Law Abiding Citizen), as one of Peter’s friends who attempts to warm to Ethan, and has an oddly close relationship with Mrs Highman (Michelle Monaghan, Eagle Eye), and wide-eyed viewers will also spot a number of Hangover veterans (such as the receptionist from Caesar’s Palace as a flight attendant, and the doctor as a member of airport security) ; amongst a slew of funny jokes, and uncomfortable situations that include getting caught with drugs, insulting a war veteran, and drinking something that really shouldn’t have been kept in a coffee can; that make Due Date a truly laugh-out-loud comedy.
Due Date might not be quite as funny as The Hangover (although that’s possibly because the expectations for this film were much higher, due to the fact that practically all of the movie’s major jokes were spoilt in the various trailers that have been released, and is an excellent way to fill the comedy gap before the release of The Hangover 2), but it’s an excellent attempt at updating the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles formula for a new generation, and is a comedy that’s bound to induce a whole host of unexpected laughs in anyone aged 12-55; because it really is that funny, it’s got a great comedy cast, it’s perfectly suited to anyone who likes The Inbetweeners style of humour, and who wouldn’t want to see a hilarious movie that’s basically The Hangover meets Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Due Date is being released in both the U.S., and the U.K. on November 5th.
