Review of Dirty Grandpa (2016) by Tjman09 — 24 Jan 2016

Dirty Grandpa is sad because it should have been better with the cast and premise, but in the end it falls flat of every expectation. Know this isn’t just a dumb comedy that is still a funny film, this film is rarely ever funny. Bad Grandpa is racist, so dumb it’s amazing, and not very funny. The worst part of this film is seeing the great Robert De Niro, who is one of the all-time greats, in such a terrible film.

The script is so bad that it’s worth wondering what the screenwriter was going for. One of the biggest problems the film has is it’s racist and mean-spirited humor, which is instigated by De Niro’s character. On top of that their is no character development, so just about every character is a stereotype or a cliche, the worst of which is Aubrey Plaza’s character. It may seem odd to say, but the racism is just the tip of the iceberg with this film.

The element that is truly mind boggling is how dumb Dirty Grandpa is, it is so dumb that the screenwriter had to have some kind of a purpose, it’s just not clear what that is. There is one character in the film Pam, played by Jason Mantzoukas, who brings the film down like a smelly kid at the playground. Every gag involving the Pam character is just plain stupid, so stupid it can’t be taken serious, and drags the film down. It’s the flat supporting characters that make the film so dumb, and even condescending because they clearly show that the writers think the audience can’t figure out a simple joke.

On top of the sheer stupidity, and the racism Dirty Grandpa isn’t very funny, maybe except a 13 year old boy who is laughing more because he feels like he shouldn’t be watching the film than at the humor of the jokes. De Niro and Efron have little comedic chemistry, and they are the only characters to offer any genuine humor, the supporting characters just bumble around like idiots as the plotless film trucks along. From a story standpoint the film is bad in just about every aspect, except that it’s not too hard to follow.

When you consider De Niro’s comedic talent, showcased in Meet the Parents and Analyze This, and Efron’s talent it’s a showcase of wasted talent. The film is plotless, racist, dumb, silly, poorly-acted, poorly-paced, cliched, and filled with flat characters. Dirty Grandpa’s biggest problem is most likely that it was lazily made, but watching it, it feels like the filmmakers had to know and went beyond not caring. If you wondering if you should see this in theaters, I wouldn’t if I were you.