Dirty Grandpa

For F*** Magazine

DIRTY GRANDPA

Director : Dan Mazer
Cast : Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Julianne Hough, Dermot Mulroney, Adam Pally, Jason Mantzoukas
Genre : Comedy
Run Time : 102 mins
Opens : 28 January 2016
Rating : M18 (Coarse Language and Sexual References)

You mess with the bull, you get the horns, and Robert De Niro’s a pretty darn horny (r)aging bull in this comedy. De Niro plays Dick Kelly, a retired army veteran who’s ready to let loose after his wife of 40 years passes away. Dick cons his grandson Jason (Efron), a strait-laced corporate lawyer at his dad David’s (Mulroney) firm, to drive Dick down to Daytona Beach for Spring Break. Jason is getting married next weekend and his fiancé Meredith (Hough) is constantly haranguing him about the wedding planning details. While dragged on a drunken, drug-fuelled rampage through Daytona Beach by his grandpa, Jason finds himself drawn to former classmate Shadia (Deutch). Dick has lascivious designs on Shadia’s friend Lenore (Plaza), designs that Lenore is more than happy to oblige. Over the course of their misadventures, which include running afoul of the police and a local gang, some unlikely grandfather-grandson bonding unfolds.

            It’s pretty much all there in the title Dirty Grandpa – this is a comedy built on the premise of a septuagenarian behaving badly. It’s hardly the first movie mining comedy from a dirty old man partying down; it’s practically impossible not to think of 2013’s Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa on hearing the title ‘Dirty Grandpa’. The jokes pretty much write themselves, and because of its predictability and heavy reliance on one-dimensional stock characters, Dirty Grandpa comes off as lazy and limp rather than raucously shocking. The moment certain characters show up; it feels like we’re supposed to be filling out a bingo card. “There’s the fiancé with arms akimbo, there’s the friendly local merchant who’s really a drug dealer and there’s the old army buddy who’s wasting away in a nursing home. Bingo!”

            It’s somewhat funny that De Niro and Efron are playing grandfather and grandson here, since Efron’s character in Bad Neighbours threw a De Niro-themed costumed party, dressing up as Travis Bickle. Neither De Niro nor Efron are terrible in the leading roles, mostly because there just isn’t any nuance and they don’t have to stretch themselves at all. Beating out Michael Douglas and Jeff Bridges to the title role, De Niro does seem believably crass and grizzled, but it’s difficult to laugh along and cheer the character on when he’s as sociopathic as he is. We’re meant to root for Jason to loosen up and be less of a square, but what his grandpa seems intent on doing is essentially unravelling his whole life. It’s the day after his wife has died, and Dick exclaims “I want to f*** f*** f*** f***!” while air-thrusting. That’s not a character who’s “endearingly debauched” or deserving of the audience’s sympathy. Also, show us a guy that stereotypically uptight and that fond of sweater vests who has Zac Efron’s physique.

            The moment Hough’s Meredith shows up bugging Jason about the colour of his tie for the wedding rehearsal bunch and similar minutiae, it’s obvious that we’re meant to root for the couple to break up before the end of the film. Sure enough, a rival for Jason’s affections arrives in the form of Deutch’s Shadia, a conservationist who hangs out with hippies. Deutch’s ethereal beauty suits the role and an awkward/romantic karaoke duet will bring on the High School Musical flashbacks big-time. While Plaza is better known for her droll, sardonic humour, she’s still pretty funny as the overtly libidinous, promiscuous Lenore, whom it seems will stop at nothing to sleep with Dick. The thought of Aubrey Plaza and Robert De Niro getting it on is supposed to be so knee-slappingly hilarious that a disproportionate number of jokes are derived from it. It’s not “gross, ha ha!” It’s just “gross”.

             Dirty Grandpa lives up to its title in that seeing Robert De Niro drool over college-aged girls for two hours might well make you want to take a long shower. Even then, it doesn’t push the boundaries of R-rated comedy, there’s nothing inventively out there or that hasn’t been done by similar movies before. By the time the sappy acoustic guitar music plays as Dick and his grandson have a heartfelt chat about Dick’s mortality, Dirty Grandpa certainly hasn’t earned the right to try pulling on any heartstrings.

Summary: Crass, tired and always going for the most obvious joke, Dirty Grandpa is an old dog desperately in need of learning some new tricks.

RATING: 1.5 out of 5 Stars

Jedd Jong

            

I Give It a Year

For F*** Magazine, Singapore

I GIVE IT A YEAR

2013

Starring: Rafe Spall, Rose Byrne, Simon Baker, Anna Faris

Directed by: Dan Mazer

            Much as we’ve been told not to, it’s human nature to jump to conclusions. There’s just a lot of satisfaction in yelling out “called it!” when events unfold just as one has predicted. For example, it’s easy to look at a film and write it off based on its genre – and there have indeed been numerous stinkers from the chick flick bunch. Along comes I Give It a Year to stab the institution of marriage in its side.

            The film tells the story of corporate high-flyer Nat (Byrne) and struggling novelist Josh (Spall), who marry after a whirlwind seven-month-long courtship. Nat’s older sister Naomi (Minnie Driver), herself stuck in an unhappy marriage, reckons that Nat and Josh will stay married for a year at the longest – hence the title. The lead couple’s union is tested by Josh’s ex-girlfriend Chloe (Faris) and Nat’s business client Guy (Baker), both of whom seem to be better matches for Josh and Nat respectively. “If you can make it through the first year of marriage, you can make it through anything,” Josh’s father reassures him. But once they’re over that twelve month hurdle, it’s plain sailing. Right?

            I Give It a Year is writer-director Dan Mazer’s feature film directing debut. He’s best known for co-writing Ali G Indahouse, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Brüno with Sacha Baron Cohen – as such, one can expect a romantic comedy with a fair bit more bite. The film isn’t aiming to be a feel-good date movie, but it is aiming at the funny bone and more often than not, hits a bull’s-eye. A film about marital trials and tribulations could have easily become a little heavy, but Mazer keeps the gags flying thick and fast.

            The film seems to exist in a world where nobody has much tact, and there is a fair bit of cringe comedy in store. Comedian Stephen Merchant, as Josh’s friend Dan, starts the ball rolling with a very inappropriate best man’s speech at the wedding. The movie goes on to offer up doves flying into ceiling fans, an awkward game of charades, an inept marriage counsellor preoccupied with her anatomically-correct dolls, a look at the myriad logistical challenges of having a threesome and arguments about misheard song lyrics. Not all the jokes work, but there are just so many of them and by the end, a good amount of laughs were generated. While several of the gags are indeed pretty raunchy, they’re never over-the-top vulgar or (too) tasteless.

            The film attempts to shirk rom-com conventions by presenting audiences with a central couple whose relationship is not meant to be really compelling, and that’s a gamble that doesn’t fully pay off. Rafe Spall and Rose Byrne don’t generate a lot of chemistry and aren’t all that likeable, but then again that might be the point. That’s not to say they don’t put in good performances – Spall in particular appears to relish the chance to goof off with some drunken dancing. Once Chloe and Guy enter the scene, it becomes harder to root for Nat and Josh to stay together, which means Anna Faris and Simon Baker do their jobs. The film’s third act takes a dip into more dramatic territory, but Mazer always keep an eye on the laughs, so there are no jarring tonal shifts. The film also gets a little cluttered with supporting characters and side gags at times.

            I Give It a Year’s biggest strength is that it manages to strike a decent balance between the cynical humour, relationship drama and big comedic set-pieces. It’s definitely on the acerbic side, but the British film manages to retain a small amount of charm and while it borders on mean, it’s never alienating. Above all, it does draw out the laughs.

SUMMARY: A contemporary look at early married life dosed with the comedic stylings of Borat’s partner in crime – it works for those who have been jaded by mawkish rom-coms and could do with a little edge in their “chick flick”.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 STARS

Jedd Jong