Due Date

The two words you don't want to see in a movie review are...
'On paper' Due Date looks like one hell of a film; A road trip flick starring two of the best comedic actors of my generation directed by the guy who did one of the funniest flicks of the decade.
What could possibly go wrong...
I joke.
Sort of.
Todd Phillips, the man who showed us the hairy side of Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover, has directed and co-written the screenplay along with two Alans who have such similar resumes on imdb.com they may as well be the same person (TV writers Alan R Cohen and Alan Freedland) and Adam Sztykiel (Made Of Honour).
Peter (Robert Downey Jr - Sherlock Holmes) is about to have a baby, well his wife (Michelle Monaghan - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is anyway. Peter is in Atlanta, Georgia on business, his wife is in Los Angeles and is booked in for a C-Section on Friday.
An unfortunate series of events lead Peter to hitch a ride to L.A. with the acid-jean-wearing, permed-hair-loving, actor-wannabe Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis).
Ethan and his dog Sunny are on their way to Hollywood where Ethan has a meeting with an agent. Ethan wants to stop at the Grand Canyon on the way to cast the ashes of his dad into the 'man-made' Grand Canyon.
Temper-prone Peter on the other hand wants to get home as soon as possible so he doesn't miss the birth of his baby.
The two have many adventures as they drive across the gorgeous countryside; jokes are made, laws and bones are broken.
Cue Planes Trains and Automobiles flavoured deja vu. Sans the trains. I could regularly see Steve Martin getting cranky and hot under the collar with John Candy's intolerable personal habits; calling Candy names and hurting his feelings only to end up apologising shortly after. This felt so much like a reboot of that classic.
RDJ and Galifianakis were brilliant, as they are in anything they do however I felt a lot of the time that they were held back by the confines of the script. I don't know why those two were cast in this, it is akin to taking the Bugati out to drive to the corner shops for a bottle of milk. Granted there are some people in the world conceited enough to do that, but us well-adjusted folk just plain wouldn't. Those two actors are too good for the film.
There are a couple of belly-laugh moments but I was expecting more given the pedigree of the cast and the director. Peter's reaction to a very annoying child is hilarious (do not try that at home).
Some good cameos by Juliette Lewis, Jamie Foxx and Danny McBride from Eastbound & Down.
The soundtrack was great and a must for any road trip with the likes of Pink Floyd, Cowboy Junkies and Wolfmother.
Things I learnt: Cindy is a perfectly respectable name for a boy; Texaco is not Mexico; you really had better check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Six and a half out of ten.