The Robert Downey Jr. Film Guide: Due Date (2010)

An uptight father-to-be is forced to drive across the country with an irritating wannabe actor.

Very high, he’s in almost every scene.

Peter Highman, guy with anger management issues desperately trying to get home to his wife.

Fit, tan and well put together.

A competent straight man who manages to steal the show a few times.

Uphill? No, it’s all downhill from here ... it’s easier as you go downhill, so your dad didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about.

Michelle Monaghan plays his wife.

Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx, Michelle Monaghan, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride

Jamie Foxx in The Soloist. Juliette Lewis in Natural Born Killers. Michelle Monaghan in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Danny McBride in Tropic Thunder.

I am crazy about this movie. I just love it so much. Like Bradley Cooper in The Hangover, I’m playing an aspect of Todd Phillips, an uptight, anxious, controlling aspect. The missus has seen this side of me too. This became one of the most privately joyful experiences in history. It had what all of my favorite comedies have: a real emotional resonance ... Due Date for me was such a return to a felt sense of community with a small, like-minded group of peers. To me it was like big-budget summer stock ... This for me was just pure love of the game, on my home turf with two of the top players. I just love them and respect them and it was probably the most healing, satisfying time I’ve spent on a film set, which is funny because [on screen] all I’m doing is complaining and threatening. Basically I’m saying, “I’m having a baby but more importantly, I’m going to fucking kill you.” ... My inner asshole was required [for this role] and all that stuff that sometimes falls out, I was able to use constructively. Working with these guys was probably one of the great experiences of my life ... We are telling a story of a dysfunctional matchup creating a healing that you wouldn’t ask for but it’s exactly what these two guys need. So you’re really talking about something that’s bigger than both of them. And then Todd, as much as he might act like a curmudgeon-y guy who just likes making comedies, he just undersells it a lot. He is truly an American master filmmaker. And of course we all love Bradley and all those other guys [from The Hangover], they are special, gifted guys but we notice that there’s this extra, trippy thing that [Zach] and Todd have. It’s just a pleasure to behold. What I noticed is that they already these two atoms that work in a certain way and I just added into the mix and tried to get in where I fit in ... The thing about Todd [Phillips] is that he’s so confident and what he knows, he does well. You literally can’t offend the guy and you can’t distort his sense of self. What he does, he just yields to it, lets it in and allows it to grow.

Present day (2010), various locations between Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Before they started shooting, the two stars ran into each other in public and Robert Downey Jr thought Zach Galifianakis was a deranged fan.

Released in theaters 5 November 2010. Available on DVD/Blu-ray in region 1, 2 and 4.

Brazil: Um Parto de Viagem (A Journey of Birth)
Estonia: Őigeks Ajaks (On Time)
Hungary: Terhes társaság (Pregnant Company)
Iceland: Gjalddagi (Due Date)
Portugal: A Tempo e Horas (The Right Time)
Spain: Salidos de Cuentas (Withdrawn from Accounts)
Turkey: Git Basimdan (Go Boil Your Head)

40% Fresh | 174 reviews

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: A raucous ride built out of used parts and bizarre shifts in tone but driven by two comic virtuosos who know that the best laugh riffs rise from a baseline of character.

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: Due Date creates two oppositional spaces for the sexes—the giant playground in which men run riotously amok, and the domestic sphere of waiting women—you know, kind of like The Odyssey but with masturbation jokes and vomit.

Peter Howell, The Toronto Star: Watching Downey’s vein-popping discomfiture in the company of Galifianakis is the best and possibly only reason for seeing the film.

1. The next new Robert Downey Jr movie comes out in December 2011.
2. To live vicariously through the horribly unacceptable ways that his character expresses rage.

An enjoyable but forgettable comedy that lacks the emotional impact it desperately wishes it had.