Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis star in 'Due Date,' a comedy about strangers on a road trip. The film hits theaters November 5. (courtesy photo)
A cross-country road trip with a whacked-out stranger doesn’t sound like it would be that much of an appealing situation, but Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifanakis prove that assumption wrong.
Even an hour before the movie was set to debut at CU on Monday, there was an impressive crowd lined up to see the new film “Due Date” in Chem 140, presented by Program Council.
The film follows uptight Los Angeles architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) as he gets caught up in a terrorist blunder, thanks or no thanks to the help of Hollywood-bound aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifanakis), while trying to fly home for the birth of his first child. The contrasting pair is added to the “No Fly List” and they then, to Highman’s dismay, end up driving together cross country to reach their common destination: Hollywood.
Laughter burst out from each and every section of the audience all throughout the movie. With violent fights involving handicapped bank tellers, hi jacking a Mexican border patroller’s car, and an unfortunate mix-up between a dead man’s ashes and coffee grinds, it was hard not to laugh in this road trip comedy.
Highman eventually lightens up and, after lashing out more than several times at Tramblay, he finally learns to love his more-than-unusual sidekick.
Though it may be a bit predictable, the film was well received by audiences.
“I really liked it,” said Leah Rosenthal, a 21-year-old junior film major. “I thought it was funny. Zach Galifanakis is hilarious. The plot was more interesting than I thought it would be.”
Senior civil engineering major Justin Phipps, 21, said he had a similar opinion.
“I thought it was well thought out,” Phipps said. “Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifanakis worked well together. I thought it was great! Pretty entertaining.”
Chris Kopacz, a 21-year-old junior aerospace engineering major, said he thought the cast was well-chosen.
“I liked the movie,” Kopacz said. “I’ve always liked Zach Galifanakis from ‘The Hangover’, and Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorite actors, so I guess overall I really liked the comedy.”
However, he said, it got a little strange at points.
“I thought the dad in the coffee can was a little weird,” Kopacz said, referring to Galifanakis’ character carrying his dad’s ashes with him in a coffee can.
This movie’s due date in theaters is Nov. 5.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Leah Knauer at Leah.knauer@colorado.edu.
I was at the premier too. It was entertaining, but is was a complete ripoff of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.” The characters were the same, their development was exactly the same, and many scenes are completely copied.