By Ohad Amram, Staff Writer
From director, Todd Phillips, who brought you such hits as ,Road Trip, Old School, and last years’ critically acclaimed, The Hangover, Due Date is guaranteed to bring laughs. The film tells of Peter (Robert Downey Jr.) and Ethan (Zach Galifianakis), both of whom venture from Atlanta to Los Angeles by car; Peter strives to appear home in time for his wife to give birth to their first child, hence the title of the film, and Ethan is in hopes of becoming an actor, out in Hollywood. The actors work very well with one another as well as the script. The short tempered Peter is a successful architect who has very little patience. Ethan is none other than the typical character which Zach Galifianakis is famous for playing. In fact, throughout the movie, the character of Ethan is very reminiscent of Alan in The Hangover. With that said, Galifianakis is also able to defy his boundaries as an actor, in this film, and at times showcases a far more serious, very in tune with himself, actor.
Both Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis prove once more that the two can play very well off of one another and have steadily built a stable director and actor relationship. Robert Downey Jr. is also granted the opportunity to work with an actor of which he has worked with in the past; Jamie Foxx. The two worked very well together in 2009’s The Soloist and manage to yet again engage in meaningful dialogue throughout Foxx’s short, yet admirable, appearance in this film. The film also depicts short sequences which consist of actors: Juliette Lewis, whom has proven herself to be a very versatile actress, as she is portrayed as Ethan’s strung-out drug dealer, and Danny McBride, whom currently stars in the hit HBO series Eastbound & Down and, in the film, is portrayed as a violent and unforgiving war veteran.
The fun-filled quest that is Due Date is often times the plot of many Todd Phillips films, as in Road Trip and The Hangover. Yet it becomes evident to the audience that Due Date was the result of both Phillips and Galifianakis’ uncontrollable anxiousness for The Hangover 2, which is due May 26 of 2011 and as of October of 2010 has been in production. Much like The Hangover, Due Date is filled with surprising twists and turns, which include the quirky escapades of Ethan (Galifianakis) and the very well-acted Peter (Downey Jr.) The film is sure to have you laughing within five minutes of its starting time and “it’s all uphill from there”. Anticipate on fans to soon be wearing shirts advertising the movie as well as repeating lines and quotes, of the film, verbatim. Due Date is without a doubt one of the best comedies of 2010 and serves as a midway point from the first to the second Hangover, giving its viewer something else to look forward to.