Review of Dirty Grandpa (2016) by Greatgatsby — 25 Aug 2017

Dirty Grandpa has a decent production value and actors who are giving everything they got, but this raunchy comedy drama is so unfunny it feels like it was only made for people to see Robert De Niro be a tasteless and overly sexual Grandpa.

There's really not an underuse of characters, but the overuse of a few characters and the 'idiot cop gag' lead to gaps in the film being completely laugh free. Audrey Plaza, Zac Efron, and Robert De Niro all give wacky, completely unrealistic character performances and deliver lines with the attempt to create belly laughs, but John M Phillips writing services them nothing interesting to say.

The most problematic issue was the over-the-top drama towards the end of the film that felt incredibly forced and unnatural. Overall, each actor in this 'comedy' deserves the respect that none of their performances felt like this film was just another pay check for them.

Plus the editing and cinematography is well done for the most part. Dirty Grandpa, however, is just too unfunny to be considered even a decent comedy, since very little of the dialogue and visuals provide much more than uncomfortable chuckles.