The raunchy comedy set during the Spring Break period of booze, babes and blow is an element which has its fans and its foes. And certainly, one doesn't expect much from a film which focuses on an elderly man parading through the streets of Daytona Beach looking to get some to be any good. But what makes Dirty Grandpa all the more intriguing is through the casting of one Robert De Niro – an actor who's spent decades building up a strong career resume but has since been in a form of limbo with his choices, with the likes of The Intern and The Big Wedding being odd choices for the once-prestigious actor. But his collaboration with director Dan Mazer (the man behind I Give It A Year and common ally of Sacha Baron Cohen) and High School Musical deserter Zac Efron makes for one of his weirdest casting decisions, and it's interesting to see just how it'll pay off.
Following the death of his wife of forty plus years, Robert De Niro's Dick Kelly requests that his recently-estranged grandson Jason (Efron) on a trip to the standard holiday home that the couple used to go on every year as both a way to say goodbye to his departed wife and to rekindle a relationship with the grandkid – who has stepped away from his grandfather's control to go into his father's enterprise of law. Adamant due to his workload and his fast-approaching marriage to his long-time girlfriend (Julianne Hough), Jason takes his grandfather (via his girlfriend's pink Mini Cooper because comedy) along with him, only to discover his own secret agenda to get off with a younger model; ending up following a sexually-active Lenore (Aubrey Plaza) and her band of friends (including a former classmate of Jason's photography class played by Zoey Deutch) to Daytona Beach during the Spring Break period. Of course, hilarity attempts to ensue as Jason must control his crazy grandpa amongst all the crazy of Florida and ensure that he makes it to his wedding rehearsal.
Yep, this comedy is on auto-pilot in the story department, and it's even more obvious when you watch the poorly-structured 'plot' forget that it already had its second act where Jason inevitably falls out with his grandfather and repeats it with a different story; as though the writer couldn't decide which one was better and decided to keep both in, adding to an already-overlong film to push it to 100 minutes. But yes, this is a comedy-first movie, made evident by its various plot-holes and disinteresting 'twists' which get side-lined for such "hilarious" moments as suggested child molestation and Efron wearing a 90s rapist's trousers courtesy of a couple of incompetent policemen. Laugh out loud, supposedly.
Comedy is a subjective, which can be the only explainable reason for why the screening I attended was loving what terrible terrible antics the geriatric and the square undergo. From constant quips about Efron looking like a lesbian to constantly having De Niro stick something up his ass (and a particularly noteworthy sequence where Jason gets his grandfather's penis right in his face being a possible career low for both actors), it's all rather tiring as though they're just as old a relic as some of the characters present in this movie. Not to mention that the incredibly low-brow interactions that the film promotes as being part of the hilarious antics our two leads go through end up being nothing more than a rather insulting piece of viewing. While some of that disregard can be carried on to the one-dimensional bland characters we see before us who undergo barely any growth, it's more about the actions and the comments they make which ends up making the movie entirely unfunny. Again, comedy is subjective, but I'm not sure I should really be thinking that paedophilia is funny. Not even if it's by Zac Efron with his penis covered by a fluffy insect.
Robert De Niro is one of the great actors, and it's understandable in some way why he may accept such a ridiculous movie such as this one – as a way of showing off his range. Alas, all he is here is incredibly dislikeable. Very one-note and only really succeeding in being as dirty as the title suggests, the notion that an actor such as he would be so willing to do a film where he goes around women way younger than him and exclaims homophobic & racial slurs for means of entertainment (with only a glimmer of character to him with a surprise 'twist' about his past and a measly attempt of rekindling with the mostly-DOA Dermot Mulroney as his son) is something rather abhorrent to imagine. Plus, De Niro dick. Why. Efron has a mild change playing a straight-faced individual in the comedy world, but with his usual contract requirement to go shirtless gets more in the way once partying starts about 20 minutes in. His character growth about being in a seemingly-happy relationship with a neurotic bridezilla who turns Jewish just when a Swastika appears on his face (because comedy) is as bland as one could expect for a film where the proper love interest just so happens to have a photo of him on her phone from when they were in freshmen year together (bear in mind that he's supposedly a fully-fledged lawyer by this point, and how long it takes), and it's overly notable by how disinterested he is by the whole thing by not even wearing an engagement ring during the entire thing. The most he has is an okay rapport with his granddad.
I usually love Aubrey Plaza, and much like De Niro it's interesting to see her do something new to something like Parks and Recreation or Safety Not Guaranteed, but this is not the right direction to go in – as an overly sexual predator who grasps onto whoever she wants and won't give up. It's such a bizarre role for her and she looks so uncomfortable during the whole affair. Lackey #1 Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman is incredibly forgettable as token gay archetype whilst Deutch is the typical love interest of the "opposites attract" kind, and therefore is just there for the story and little else. You also have the repeatedly annoying Jason Mantzoukas as a drug dealer/merch seller who you ca get rid of easily without any lasting impact on the movie; two cops played by Mo Collins and Henry Zebrowski who are hateable for a comic relief duo; Jake Picking and Michael Hudson as two rival love interests who appear and disappear repeatedly for no reason (with one particularly stupid sequence in which one of the two "sneaks" up to De Niro when he isn't looking to plant drugs on him); Hough as the standard bridezilla you have to hate for being the wrong girl; Adam Pally as a family member who contributes to nothing rather than a last-minute twist that doesn't mean anything when all is considered; and even poor Danny Glover is pulled in for barely two minutes of being De Niro.
When a film starts up with an opening title sequence based around poorly Photoshopped images of Efron and De Niro over the years, you know you should expect little. You know when there's wedding talk during the funeral that you should expect little. You know when one character goes on about his career as dog masturbator you should expect little. When the film actually starts its plot, you should have already left the screening or taken a nap. There is very little of note to Dirty Grandpa other than to quench whatever thirst was missing from the 2016 comedy scene. It's already made headlines as being a quick member for the 'Worst of 2016' club along with Norm of the North, so save your money and skip whatever this is saying is comedy. For the safety of your brain cells and the future of film. This is not art; it's De Niro dick. 2/10.
Oh, and there's a storyline about a group of gangsters who torments the two leads, but it leads to nothing so why bother mentioning it?
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