[yasr_overall_rating]
A dad forms a bitter rivalry with his daughter’s young rich boyfriend.
There is only so far a film can go with cheap tricks and sub-par comedy and “Why Him?” shows us exactly how far that is.
Here’s the plot, stop me if you’ve heard it. Girl has loving, average family, girl introduces family to a fringe-living boyfriend who proceeds to impress family and win over dad. Happy ending ensues and that’s a wrap. No, I’m not kidding, that is what this film has to stand on. Stephanie Fleming (Zoey Deutch) introduces tech mogul Laird (James Franco) to her father, Ned (Bryan Cranston) in an attempt to bring Laird into the fold and it all goes downhill from there.
This movie has the cast to be an incredible addition to a repertoire but it just fails to impress. Do you like foul language plaguing a film? If you don’t then stay home because every other word out of Franco’s mouth is a bewildering explicative of some kind. I understand the meaning for this, it’s his character, it’s supposed to be like that, it’s what makes him the fringe-y cool guy but it just isn’t used right. It tries to make up for the failing plot but the comedic effect the language has, just gets in the way by the middle of the film. Cranston has so many great features under his belt but his attempt at a father figure in this film doesn’t feel at all like what I expected and it was truly a letdown.
I get that comedies don’t have strong plots in the first place and usually, the film relies heavily on the filling, the one-liners, the quick wit, the puns, all of that to carry the film to success but “Why Him?” doesn’t do that at all. The wit and one-liners are unbalanced and at times out of place making for confusing viewing. Cranston and Franco work well together, that is one positive, but their script doesn’t seem to jive which is a shame because I really wanted to like this film. If you are bored, watch this movie but if you have anything better to do with your time, do that instead.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD Tuesday, March 28th
