Film Reviews

Due Date

• Rating:
• Director: Todd Phillips
• Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis
• Details: US/94 mins 15A

Todd Phillips' follow-up to The Hangover was always going to be met with a certain level of expectation, but you'd be best leaving said expectations at the door, as Due Date is much darker affair, with few likeable characters. That's not to say that there aren’t laughs to be had; you can't put Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis on screen together and not have it be funny, it just sometimes fails to engage the audience the way it should have. Downey Jr. is a successful architect, trying to get from Atlanta to Los Angeles for the birth of his first child. But after a misunderstanding on the plane that involves Galifianakis' eccentric passenger, both men have no fly restrictions put on them and must travel by road before the sprog is dropped. But Downey Jr's Peter has his own personality flaws, and a definite nasty streak, while his travel companion has a particular way of getting under his skin, making the 2000 mile journey a shenanigan-ridden affair. Phillips has never been a director to shy away from the crude, or abrasive; but more often than not the results showed a helmer with an extremely deft comic touch. He knows how to direct funny guys, and both Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell owe a large part of their subsequent careers to him for Old School. He's treading ground here where many other filmmakers have gone before, and it's hard not to think of both Midnight Run and Planes, Trains and Automobiles when watching Due Date. Credit to Downey Jr., normally characters in such positions in road movies have an inherent likeability underneath their crass exteriors, but his guy has some serious issues, that Galifianakis' Ethan simply brings to the surface. Granted, most people in a similar position would have snapped earlier, but Downey Jr. does so with such genuine malice, it's hard not to be impressed with the balls it took to play it so. Of course there are laughs here, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it could have been funnier. The best bits come when the two encounter other folk on their journey - scenes with Danny McBride and Juliette Lewis in particular are very funny - but Galifianakis isn't doing anything particularly different than The Hangover, and Downey Jr. has been funnier in other films. It's a solid enough watch; just don't go in expecting something special. Everyone involved here has made better films before and will again in the future.

Review by Mike Sheridan