Due Date

Director Todd Phillips' The Hangover was a bachelor party romp blockbuster, so there was great anticipation for this road-trip-gone-awry follow-up, which continues to riff on the axiom known as Murphy's Law: if something can go wrong, it will. The plot revolves around uptight Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) whose run-in with a federal marshal on a plane lands him on the no-fly list just days before his pregnant wife Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) is scheduled for a Caesarean delivery of their first child. Desperate to get from the Atlanta airport to Los Angeles, Peter ends up sharing a rental car with boorish, immature, aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who was also kicked off the earlier flight. While the film begins far too slowly, the pace picks up as the odd-couple concept kicks in with full frat-boy force, with the obligatory detours including a side-trip for Ethan's “glaucoma medication” and a spaced-out trip to Mexico. Downey exudes appropriately wry, frustrated humor in the straight-man role, while Galifianakis essentially plays the same kind of obnoxious misfit character he's previously established. Added to the mix are amusing cameos from Jamie Foxx, Danny McBride, Juliette Lewis, and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, not to mention a masturbating French bulldog. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a gag reel (7 min.) and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are deleted scenes (4 min.), a scene from the sitcom Two and a Half Men featuring Galifianakis in character (3 min.), brief “Action Mash-Up” and “Too Many Questions” montage segments, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven comedy.] (S. Granger)