DUE DATE

Written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel and Todd Phillips

Directed by Todd Phillips

Starring Robert Down Jr., Zach Galifianakis and Michelle Monaghan

Ethan Tremblay: "Two and a Half Men" is the reason I wanted to become an actor - especially the second season.

Todd Phillips has been making male no-brainer comedies for quite some time now, with varied results. In 2008, he finally hit the jackpot, Vegas styles, with the international phenomenon THE HANGOVER. With that success, he took Zach Galifianakis’s bearded, beer-bellied buffoon and made him a comedy God in the eyes of guys everywhere and, while he was at it, made himself a bonafide player.

To the victor go the spoils and Phillips was certainly spoiled when he bagged everyone’s favorite charmer, Robert Downey Jr., opposite the aforementioned buffoon (Galifianakis) for his buddy road comedy, DUE DATE. He’s got the pedigree at his disposal – Downey Jr. doesn’t even have to try to get high-strung, expectant father, Peter Highman, down and even Galifianakis has been around enough blocks now to inject a little subtlety into his performance as wannabe actor, Ethan Tremblay – but, just like so much of Phillips’s past work, the antics are all too often just plain stupid instead of stupidly hilarious. It doesn’t help either that Ethan is so awkward at times that he goes from funny to the dreaded realm of uncomfortable.

To buy into DUE DATE, which has decent laughs but very few uproarious moments, you have to buy the really weak chain of events that sets the premise in motion. Peter ends up on a no-fly list after he and Ethan say words like “terrorist” and “bomb” a little too loud on a plane. Peter’s wife (Michelle Monaghan) is giving birth in a few days so he must get home somehow. With his wallet still on the plane, he must accept the offer to ride with Ethan and his masturbating dog, Sonny. Sure his wife could have certainly bought him a train ticket home on-line, but then we wouldn’t get to see these two polar opposites bond by living through several near-death experiences that wouldn’t have otherwise happened had they not gotten into this mess to begin with. Fortunately, the guys that Phillips is aiming for will buy into anything.

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IRON MAN 2

Written by Justin Theroux

Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Dona Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell and Mickey Rourke

Ivan Vanko: If you could make God bleed, people would cease to believe in him.

When the lights went down at the sold out opening night screening of IRON MAN 2 that I attended, there was a particular energy in the air.  It was that moment when you realize that what you’ve been waiting for for so long is really about to take place.  The hushed anticipation was infectious and, as exciting as it was to feel it build, it was just as disappointing to feel that energy die off as the film unfolded.  Iron Man may have a brand new suit but his heavier armour ultimately just weighed this new adventure down.

I had no knowledge of Iron Man before the first film, other than the fact that he existed anyway.  When director Jon Favreau introduced him as an irresponsible billionaire who learns that his legacy would be essentially ensuring continuous and unnecessary destruction until there was nothing left to blow up, I instantly loved the guy.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), as privileged as he was, was still human and still had a soul that he didn’t want to see damned.  Super ego still intact but changed nonetheless at the end of the first film, Stark re-emerges now as narcissistic and oblivious again, almost as if to satisfy what test audiences liked most about him after the first film.  It gives the film itself an air of arrogance that it is difficult to recover from.  The Iron Man people know they did good last time out and like Tony Stark, it seems to have gone to their heads a bit too much.

Justin Theroux, the writer of TROPIC THUNDER, is a new addition to the Iron Man team and, despite his clear ability to be laugh out loud funny, he takes Iron Man and Tony Stark to some pretty dark places.  There is nothing wrong with going to these places in a superhero movie but with Stark coming off more smug and callous from the beginning, there isn’t as much sympathy to go around when Theroux finally reveals why Stark is acting this way.  Downey Jr. still nails Stark but despite having some serious mortality issues to deal with this time, he never seems to get to the core of where Stark is coming from.  And, correct me if I’m wrong, but Iron Man is nothing without his core. 

Other newcomers to the Iron Man world include Mickey Rourke as a sinister Russian physicist bent on revenge, Sam Rockwell as a less successful version of Stark himself, Scarlett Johansson as a sultry new member of Stark’s team and Don Cheadle as a replacement for Terrence Howard in the Rhodey role, Stark’s best buddy.  Rourke is certainly scary but he seems to be trying too hard to redefine evil, much like Heath Ledger did as The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT.  Rockwell is hilarious and stylin’ in the three-piece suits he wears to cover up his inferiority issues.  Meanwhile, Cheadle does nothing with the opportunity that fell in his lap and I would really like to see Johansson do something other than just look sultry for a change.

IRON MAN 2 does get better as it goes on.  I don’t want to make it sound like it’s a bad time.  It’s just easier to focus on what isn’t working when everything worked so well in the past.  Favreau does his best to keep things smooth and fresh; Downey Jr. delivers as expected but ultimately, IRON MAN 2 just isn’t as much fun as the first.  You might say it has an iron deficiency.  You might.

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Black Sheep Revisited: IRON MAN

Back in 2008, when Jon Favreau’s IRON MAN kicked the summer blockbuster season into an unexpected incredible start, both critically and financially, I think I can safely say that no one was certain it would actually work. Marvel was stepping out on their own for the first time with a very risky title and with a slew of titles ahead of them, most of which seem to be connected to each other in some way, they are probably feeling a lot better about what to expect from IRON MAN 2 this coming weekend.

Prognosticators are saying IRON MAN 2 should earn somewhere in the vicinity of $150 million over three days. That is about $50 million more than the original did in its first weekend. The major difference between IRON MAN and IRON MAN 2 though is that, while people just wanted big and were surprised by what they got last time, this time out, people have expectations for IRON MAN 2. The question is not whether people will go but rather whether they will like it as much as the first and keep coming back for more.

When I originally reviewed the film, I gave it four stars and enjoyed it thoroughly. I watched the film for the third time this past weekend and I thought it might be fun to go back and see if my opinion now has changed with time and subsequent viewings. Here’s what I said then:

“What is Iron Man anyway? Can we really call him a superhero? As far as I can tell, he’s just a guy with a bum heart that happens to be pretty handy in the shop.”

Clearly, I went into this movie with absolutely no research done whatsoever. I go on to say:

“Well, according to this adaptation, he is the superhero for the modern era. He is sarcastic and skeptical but still hopeful and genuine. He is a man who is capable of admitting his failures, not dwelling on them and then fostering a new path for himself. He is the kind of man that is both envied and looked up to. He is building himself a reputation as a superhero that can manage tremendous feats through intelligence and perseverance rather than just brawn and dumb luck. And now, IRON MAN is also a movie that offers perspective on the world around us at the same time as some awesome exhilaration.”

Two years later, IRON MAN holds up because Robert Downey Jr., as Tony Stark, is so darn comfortable in that role. The character fits his personality as well as the flashy iron suit fit his then newly buffed body. Downey Jr. makes Stark relatable and likable, not always easy feats when the protagonist starts out as a billionaire playboy. I was essentially of the same mind then as I am now.

“With IRON MAN, it looks like Downey Jr. might finally be able to wipe his past clean and achieve the heights his talent has always warranted. Though his body is in noticeably better shape, it is his quick-witted delivery and cynical yet sympathetic duality that make Tony Stark the kind of guy everyone wants to hang out with or just plain be.”

Like I said, there is no way IRON MAN 2 won’t make more than the first instalment but if the people at Marvel want the party to continue on for future sequels, they had better hope audiences still want to hang out with Stark

For Black Sheep's full review of IRON MAN, just any of the six links in this one article.  Black Sheep's review of IRON MAN 2 will be coming on Saturday.

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