Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films
Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, RZA, Matt Walsh, Brody Stevens
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 2 starts out with Peter Highman {yeah, it’s a funny name that’s a setup for a really lame joke later} (Robert Downey Jr.) a straight laced architect who has to come home for the birth of his first child scheduled (of course) by C-Section in 5 days, and Ethan Tremblay / Ethan Chase (Zach Galifianakis) who is a lame brained most annoying person in the world type of guy who accidentally bumps into Peter and forces them into a cross country trip together. Ok, so it’s not really a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles remake, but it wants to be so bad that it seems almost like a sequel or a remake. The only difference is that Steve Martin and John Candy were funny! I really wanted to like this movie, but I was severely disappointed. Jamie Foxx has a cameo here that is useless and not needed at all. They wanted to get another big name in here and needed a different way to get the guys back on the road since they totaled their car already and they didn’t have the budget or a train or bus :-). This movie had all the funny parts (there are a few) in the trailers, and as such is disappointing when after you’ve seen the trailer 3 or 4 times, there is nothing else to look at in the film. Note to filmmakers: If you are going to do a big setup, hire a big star or develop a cutesy name for a single joke, make sure that joke is worth the effort. In this case, the whole Jamie Foxx role was a setup for about a 15 second gag in the end of the film, but it comes and goes in a flash and isn’t even funny.
John Candy played a lovable oaf (shower curtain hook salesman) that is totally inept but with a big heart. Zach plays an unlovable oaf (actor wannabe) that is totally inept but keeps on being completely unlikable. There is a scene with Heidi (Juliette Lewis) as his drug contact in the middle of the prairie who sells Ethan his glaucoma medicine. This lady has two kids and the whole scene goes nowhere and does nothing. I don’t know what they were even trying to do, as I kept expecting a payoff that never came. The scene with Jamie Foxx was undeveloped as well. From the trailer you know they made coffee from Ethan’s daddy’s ashes and managed to fit in a spit take or two, but it goes nowhere either and Jamie goes from “you gotta be nice to him, it’s your Karma” to “Get the hell off my property” in about 60 seconds, and loans them his car. The only joke in the sequence was again in the trailer. Then as the guys are driving west on I-70 they suddenly come upon the Mexican border to setup another dumb sidetrack. How they did that I’m not exactly sure, as the border is about an hour south of I70.
I really was anxious to watch this, but as I said, I was really disappointed. It could have been a really nice, really funny film, but it just wasn’t good. I wish it had been great, but it simply wasn’t. Skip it, or watch it on DVD when you have absolutely nothing better to watch!
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Movie Review - Due Date (2010) {R},
