Movie Review: Due Date

I love movies.

To choose my favorite would be like having to choose a favorite child (ya know, if I had more than one.)

How do you choose? I love The Goonies. I love Say Anything. Out of Africa. Shag. Sixteen Candles. The English Patient. Dirty Dancing, Mallrats, Oceans 11. I love movies that make me laugh. I also love movies that leave me in shambles. I love movies that make me think – like Stigmata. And sometimes, I love a movie that lets me NOT think.

Enter Due Date.

I was lucky enough to be hooked up with advanced screening tickets from Murphy USA. It was kind of like being a celebrity, but without the money. Or cool clothes. Or weighing 78 pounds. My friends and I were able to skip the entire line, and were seated in reserved seats a full 5 days before the movie was released. Like I said – kind of like Hollywood, but poorer. And in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Okay. So – Due Date. If you’ve seen The Hangover, and you enjoyed it, you’ll pretty much feel right at home with this one. It’s like Part Two, where Wolf Pack Brother in Law is dropped off at the airport and the chaotic Vegas experience continues road trip style. He is the exact same character: quirky and irresposible, but loveable in the most God awful way that you can’t put your finger on. Paired with Robert Downey, Jr. makes it even odder. I’ll be honest here – ol’ Rob ain’t my favorite actor. Sure, he was okay in Chances Are. But really? I haven’t liked him since he played himself in that documentary gone wrong – Less Than Zero. Okay. I take that back. He did a great lip sync to Elton John’s I Want Love. Was he in Benny & Joon? Doesn’t matter – I hated that movie, anyway.

But Due Date? I laughed the entire movie. Maybe it was my mood at the time. Maybe I was delirious from the 3 hour drive to Charlotte. Maybe I was in dire need of Goobers. Whatever the reason, I giggled and giggled. Sure – the movie was obnoxious. But it worked. Not every movie has to win an Oscar to be a good time – and this movie was a good time. It wasn’t just me who thought so, either, based on the hyenas who shared the theater with me. From the opening scene at the airport, to the Mexican Border, I laughed in ways that made my stomach cramp. Gigglefest 2010. Really.

So, do I recommend it? Spending $9 a ticket to watch Wolf Pack and non-drugged drugged Downey roadtrip it across the US? I do. But not if you have a distaste for blatant humor. Or didn’t like The Hangover. Or were part of the cast and crew of Less Than Zero…

Nine bucks is a lot, and you guys should have been paid more.