Due Date

Review by Anthony Morris

Due Date is one of those projects that comedians - or in this case, director Todd Phillips (Old School, The Hangover) - do once success seems to be coming just a little too easy. 

And who can blame him? 

The Hangover might have had it's moments, but seeing it hit big at the box office, while more adventurous or off-beat comedies struggled at the box office, would be enough to make anyone think he had the golden touch when it comes to comedy. 

So, like a lot of comedians before him, Phillips seems to have asked himself one question with Due Daye : how far can I push a tried and tested comedy concept before it stops working? 

Pairing an uptight guy and a free spirit is hardly ground breaking - but what happens if the free spirit is really, really annoying, and the uptight guy is a really, really massive arsehole? 

Due Date is what happens, and while it's wildly uneven and not the kind of film that holds up to much thought at all after the credits roll, it is both funny and strangely compelling. 

That's largely due to the performances of Robert Downey Jr as Peter, AKA the stressed-out uptight one, and Zach Galifianakis as Ethan, the idiotic, pretentious, would-be actor one who manages to get the pair of them thrown off their flight. 

Two words : Road Trip. 

For a while this works, but then it starts to dawn that Peter is actually a massive prick - maybe it's when he gut punches a little kid, maybe it's when he spits on Ethan's dog, but eventually sympathies shift to Ethan, only to then remember that Ethan is actually even more painful than Peter. 

If Due Date was broader or more subtle it would work better : as it stands, it veers wildly between scenes of rampant douche-baggerey and blatant stabs at tear-jerking (Ethan's dad just died; Peter is racing to get home in time for the birth of his first child).

It is a result that won't really please anyone. 

Still, seeing Zach Galifianakis get flung around in the back of a ute as it goes over a ditch is  comedy gold no matter which way you look at it.

3.5 out of 5

Due Date
Australian release: 25th November, 2010
Official Site: Due Date
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx
Director: Todd Phillips