Movie Review: DUE DATE

photo © 2010 SpreePiX | more info(via: Wylio)Robert Downey Jr. teams up with the star and the director of The Hangover - Zach Galifianakis and Todd Phillips - for the road comedy Due Date.

When two people get into an argument on an airplane, they find themselves on the "no-fly" list, having to make other arrangements to get from Atlanta to Los Angeles. One of these people is a no nonsense businessman and father to be, Peter Highman (Downey Jr.), and the other is a grieving yet oddly upbeat aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis). Through a series of "leave your brain at the door to enjoy" happenings, the two decide to travel cross country together attempting to arrive at the LA hospital in time for the birth of Highman's baby. This isn't Homer's Odyssey by any means, but the two do cross paths with numerous interesting characters and learn more about each other along the way.

While the film really never goes anywhere, being stuck in neutral with the perfect straight guy absorbing jokes from one of Hollywood's new leading funny guys, there are many worse ways to spend your time at the movies. There are more holes in the storyline than I could count, and law enforcement is seemingly non-existent after the first ten minutes of the movie, but again, I still found myself laughing quite a bit. And for all of the R-rated comedies released in the past few years, this is one of the cleanest of the bunch (but it still earns it's R rating.)

Overall, I would recommend this flick to those just looking to laugh. It's not complex, not award-worthy, not going to blow you away - but it is going to make you laugh for the better part of 90 minutes. I would give Due Date a 6.5 out of 10.

Family Take: When I wrote that this movie wasn't as dirty as many R-rated comedies, I didn't write that it was squeaky clean. There is endless strong profanity, drug content, and one scene involving sexual content (not involving nudity, but sound) that are enough to make this film only for the oldest of teenagers on up.

If You Like Due Date Try: Most of those interested in Due Date probably will have seen The Hangover, but it's worth mentioning as it is truly a new comedy classic.