Review of Why Him? (2016) by Handjive — 30 Apr 2017

"Why Him" is essentially a remake of about a zillion films based on the tensions of disapproving in-laws. There is a lot to like about Why Him, especially the performances from most of the cast.

James Franco plays Laird as a lovable lout. He pushes the unlikable side of the character pretty hard, but it is obvious form the get-go that he is a basically decent guy who never had a chance to become properly socialized.

Bryan Cranston plays the outraged dad in a way that is much more plausible that one would have expected--he is perpetually flabbergasted, of course, but we see him keeping a lid on his emotions in a realistic way.

Megan Mulally plays a sleeper role as Mom--initially she is quiet and sheepish in Cranston's shadow, but before long she breaks out the hilarious in an understated way as she warms to the Laird character much faster than dad does.

Sadly, Zoey Deutch has to play the daughter Stephanie, the weakest character in the film. Initially Stephanie seems smart and fetching, but eventually we see too many of the required plot points condemn the character to being an unrealistic, unlikable schemer.

Cedric the Entertainer turns in a quiet, serviceable performance (shame he has no laugh lines to work with and his character is so dull it is little more than a prop). Keegan-Michael Key rounds out the cast and gives a goofy comedic performance as a sort of butler to Franco's character.

The butler role is pure comic relief, and Key makes the most of the opportunity. The whole project hinges on the extreme crassness of the Laird character. The primary weakness of the film is losing the balance between basic realism of the situation as portrayed by the Cranston family versus the unrealism of the Laird character.

The situation provides quite a few good laughs (again, mostly from Mulally and Key), but eventually the sheer number of omnipresent F-bombs becomes unsustainable and they conspire to sink the ship. This fatal flaw is virtually identical to the fatal flaw in Sausage Party, another R-rated comedy that featured Franco and writing credits to Jonah Hill--both films had a lot going for them but were sabotaged by heavy use of foul language as a lame substitute for actual humor.

Word to the wise: One or two well placed F-bombs can be very funny, but over a hundred of them are never funny and will always stink up a movie.