‘Due Date’ is an unfortunate comedic mishap

By John Soltes

I wanted to love Due Date, the 2010 comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis, but it was not to be. The painfully bad 95-minute film is a retread of a thousand other road trip movies. If you’ve seen Planes, Trains & Automobiles, then you’ve seen Due Date. If you’ve seen The Hangover, then you’ve seen Due Date. Heck, if you’ve seen any John Candy movie, then you’ve seen Due Date.

The movie’s razor-thin plot finds Peter Highman (Downey Jr.) stuck in Atlanta after he’s put on the no-fly list following an altercation with the bumbling, wannabe actor Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis). Without his wallet or any proper identification, Peter realizes his only way to get back home to his pregnant wife in Los Angeles is by hitching a ride with Ethan, the very person that put him in this mess.

That opening bookend is shuffled aside quickly enough, and eventually we find Peter and Ethan on the road, enjoying the many oddities of each other and the American South. And that’s about it. They have run-ins with locals. They hate each other’s guts. They have a few mishaps with the ashes of Ethan’s deceased father. And then – and I don’t think I’m ruining anything — they make it to their final destination, realizing they’re actually the best of friends.

The poor premise would be forgiven if the comedic antics of the two main characters were worth the time. But Galifianakis is simply offering another one of his oddball portraits (he’s quickly becoming as run-of-the-mill as Jack Black). Downey Jr., who is one of our best actors, tries his upper-crust, fast-talking persona, which is best used in the Iron Man films, but his part is poorly written and he’s never given a chance to grow.

Surprisingly, I found the cameo from Juliette Lewis as a medical-marijuana dealer as one of the few bright points in the otherwise drab movie. Jamie Foxx turns up in what must be one of the most convenient characterizations in modern comedy history (honestly, he just happens to be Peter’s best friend, living in the middle of Texas, right along the route that the two are taking). Michelle Monaghan plays Peter’s wife, but the story line of why he needs to get back to Los Angeles is so tertiary that it doesn’t deserve such a good actress.

Todd Phillips, who directed The Hangover and Road Trip (mmmm?), goes through the motions in Due Date. At least he keeps things brisk, because if this movie were any longer, it would have been unwatchable, rather than just unbearable.

Due Date

2010

Directed by Todd Phillips

Starring Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis

Running time: 95 minutes

Bubble score: 1.5 out of 4

(Click here to purchase Due Date on DVD.)