Director: Dan Mazer.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Mantzoukas, Dermot Mulroney, Danny Glover, Julianne Hough.
Dan Mazer, the director behind a lot of Ali G and I Give It A Year, also writes a lot, most recently Office Christmas Party and Bridget Jones's Baby with Brüno and Borat in his writing credits too, however, Mazer directs a story written by someone else, a fairly unknown John Phillips.
Zac Efron plays the straight-laced lawyer boy, Jason Kelly who reluctantly agrees to drive his recently widower Grandfather to Florida, too soon. before his wedding. Robert De Niro slips comfortably into comedy mode and becomes this lecherous dirty old man on a mission to get himself laid, and possibly his grandson on the way.
De Niro is stand-alone brilliant and steals the entire film. He's the Grandpa you're so ashamedly proud of, justifying his disgusting behaviour and attitude as he verbally slaps people in the face, sometimes physically. It's a role I can no longer see someone else do. He is the dirty Grandpa.
What ensues is a totally wacky and hilarious road trip, not totally unbelievable, but way up there with silly over-the-top comical situations. Efron looks like he's been set up and pranked upon constantly, by his own Gramps who has quite a few tricks up his sleeve and possibly some state secrets too.
The script is loaded with clever put-downs, mostly delivered by De Niro, with a heavy does of sarcasm. Plenty of awkward situations, and inappropriate embarrassments but without going to the extremes like some of the comedies released this year. It's just silly and the plot holes are quickly ignored due to the hilarities.
Zoey Deutch and Aubrey Plaza pretty much make up the rest of the supporting cast, and the targets for De Niro, causing a major distraction for Efron who's soon to be married and cannot forget with the needy, dominating wife-to-be constantly calling for colour schemes, rehearsal arrangements and press releases.
It's predictable but that doesn't ruin the film, it's like you already know the story and how it's going to pan out but it's then remixed comedy style which makes it forgivable. It doesn't pretend to be anything but a funny comedy.
I've said before, all good comedies need good soundtracks, and this one is a great example of that, making full use of a suitable mixture to create the perfect atmosphere.
It's proper laugh out loud funny, especially Jason Mantzoukas' Classic Pam. I suppose it's comedy I can kind of relate to, reminding me of my pals. It's a road trip with pals that's on always on form. Non-stop heckles, and pranks come-backs.
Running Time: 8
The Cast: 9
Performance: 9
Direction: 8
Story: 7
Script: 8
Creativity: 7
Soundtrack: 8
Job Description: 10
The Extra Bonus Point: 5 just for Classic Pam
Would I buy the Blu-ray?: Yes.
79% 8/10
