By Erin Tuttle
Due Date is a film that aspires towards being a feel good comedy about two men who go on a quest and through one another ultimately learn about who they are. Todd Phillips’ follow-up to the wildly successful film, The Hangover, however, ends up being no more than a lackluster retelling of better films with a smattering of decent jokes and a deficiency of chemistry between the leads throughout. Its protagonist is Peter Highman, (Robert Downey, Jr.) a businessman on a deadline. He is attempting to reach his wife in Los Angeles before the birth of their first child.
I assume that everything that we need to know about him can be summed up from the fact that he wears a Bluetooth. Obviously, he is one of those guys. Initially traveling home appears to be a simplistic task until he is introduced to Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakas), an aspiring actor with a heart of gold and a brain equally as dense.
Once these two make eye contact, it becomes apparent that Ethan is ultimately Peter’s nemesis and the promise of comedy is made. The promise is made, however, not necessarily kept.
Through a series of coincidental events both Peter and Ethan find themselves on the “No Fly” list and if this wasn’t challenging enough, Peter‘s wallet is not in his possession. Due to this fact, Peter reluctantly teams with Ethan to drive across the country and the premise of the film is in place.
