Review of Due Date (2010) by Mikael K — 03 Apr 2013

Comedy director Todd Phillips gained huge critical and box office success in 2009 with "The Hangover," an outrageous, on the surface low-brow but at times witty and skillfully paced comedy about a stag night gone horribly wrong. Between directing "The Hangover" and it's sequel "The Hangover II"-also quite funny- Phillips tried to repeat his success with "Due Date".

The movie is very much like "The Hangover" in princible; it's about two guys getting deeper into trouble on an accidental adventure to save family values. In "The Hangover" a wedding was in stake, this time it's a father's presence in the birth of his child.

Robert Downey Jr. plays Peter, a man who is about to become a father. His wife is giving birth on the other side of the continent, and a set of improbable events force him to accept a ride with a truly eccentric man named Ethan (Zach Galifianakis) in order to make it to his child's birth. Needless to say, the trip accross America doesn't go smoothly.

The film relies heavily on its starring duo, and unfortunately the two comedians, while always reliable, offer just their basic performances. A certain warmth and presence is absent in both of them. Phillips also directs with professional confidence, but despite all of these potentially successful elements the end result feels less than sharp; "Due Date" is no "The Hangover," as much as it tries to be. The fast-paced comedic action comes across as tedious and incosequential and the dialog is too safe.Maybe the fact that Phillips has teamed up with five different screenwriters is behind the fact that "Due Date" simply isn't that funny.