Due Date

I really wanted to like Due Date. I really did. I’ve become a fan of Robert Downey Jr. over time, and Zach Galifianakis has potential, but this movie just wasn’t that great.

The premise is essentially a rehash of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, but not as good. We have Peter (Downey Jr.) as an uptight man in Atlanta on business who needs to get home to his very pregnant wife in time for the scheduled c-section. Ethan (Galifianakis) is the exceedingly socially awkward guy, traveling in the same direction, with whom Peter’s life intersects for what becomes a cross-country journey of increasingly disastrous proportions.

To be fair, there were some pretty funny and laughable moments. The problem is, these moments were too often far between the long stretches of awkwardness brought to bear by Ethan. I understand that this is Galifianakis’ shtick, and perhaps if you’re a big fan of his, this movie might be a real hoot. The other problem the movie has is a lack of coherency with the script. Sure, the main arc of getting home is there the whole time, but then we get this segment with Jamie Fox that feels like it was shoehorned into the film. The way the film was cut gives it more the feeling of a series of sketches, all sharing a similar theme, but none really connected.

All said, I wouldn’t recommend this one unless you really enjoy Galifianakis a lot. The occasional laughs just weren’t enough to redeem the whole package.