I do not own the above image. Copyright Lionsgate Films. All Rights Reserved.
Another
January, another gross out comedy involving a soon-to-be married man. This time, Jason Kelly (Efron) is a corporate
lawyer in Atlanta about to marry Meredith (Hough), the daughter of a powerful
lawyer. A week before the wedding,
Jason’s grandmother passes away and has to transport his grieving grandfather
Dick (De Niro) to their summer condo in Boca Raton. Dick has other plans.
What you
see in the commercials for DIRTY GRANDPA in mostly in the first 20-25
minutes. What the marketing leaves out
is the bare-bones, formula story revolving around Jason falling for Shadia
(Deutch), a former classmate of his who is a hipster photographer/Manic Pixie
Dream Girl. Jason is continually foiled
by Shadia’s dude-bro boyfriend & his goofy-looking henchman. These two underdeveloped buffoons exist
solely to be subjects of De Niro’s insults and to create the third act tension
this formula requires only to completely disappear immediately after without
explanation, showing just how important first-time credited writer John M.
Phillips feels a competent story is to a comedy. The other significant story is that of
Jason’s fiancée’s almost constant surveillance of him and her total devotion to
their wedding. Such highlights from her
include choosing tie colors during the funeral and calling 37 times in a
morning to talk with the rabbi. Hough’s
shrill bride-to-be is not as infuriating & pathetic as other bridezillas as
of late but this character needs to be retired.
These two battles drag down to almost unwatchable status.
As little
effort puts into his story, the three of the main actors try their best to keep
the movie rolling & the audience entertained. Zack Efron continues to show that there is something
behind that pretty face & those abs.
He has the charisma & comedic timing that Adam Sandler would kill
for. I’ve seen Robert De Niro phone it
in more times that should be legal. But as
the titular character, he appears to be having the time of his life. You can see it in his eyes that De Niro
cherishes the opportunity to say these vulgar insults & he never holds
back. But the runaway star of the movie is
Aubrey Plaza as the young object of De Niro’s affection. Imagine April Ludgate-Dwyer if she grew up
watching teen sex comedies. Plaza has
that perfect, uninhibited comedic timing in a movie in desperate need of her
talents.
Make no
mistake: I am not recommending you see this movie. Director Dan Mazer (BORAT co-writer) doesn’t
have nearly the talent to combine all these elements into a coherent movie. Are there laughs? Yes.
But most of the humor is in the form of an old man spewing vulgar
insults at everyone and genuine laughs are few & far between. There’s Jason Mantzoukas’ Pam, a tourist
supply shop owner/drug dealer/DJ whose mere presence caused migraines. Repeatedly he sweet talks his way out of
being arrested by Mo Collins & Henry Zembrowski, two standard idiot local
cops who don’t induce any positive emotions from the audience. Danny Glover has one, two-minute scene that
is supposed to add to the title character’s pressing need to live life to the
fullest but it just comes off as a time filler Plus, there is a gay black male character who
does a tightrope walk with line between being an offensive stereotype and just a bad character. And don’t get me started on the third act climaxes
followed by an unearned sentimental moments that cause the proceedings to limp
to the end credits.
The actors
are game but the writer & director are just way out of their league. DIRTY GRANDPA is a three week rewrite away
from being a very good movie instead of the uneven jumble we get here.
*1/2
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