WHY HIM? – Review

The big day, Christmas, is less than 50 hours away. Too late to ship that gift, but it’s not too late for the studios to unleash another big, boisterous family comedy. Hmm, about the family part…well…this flick’s rated “R” for an onslaught of “f-bombs” and naughty references. So, that distinguishes it from last month’s much tamer, comparatively genteel ALMOST CHRISTMAS. But the holiday is not enough for this new release, it wants to make things even more awkward by combining the season with the first meeting of a young woman’s boyfriend with her family. Of course that family, especially Daddy, is pretty buttoned-down and reserved. Alright, uptight would be the more appropriate description. Uh, this sounds more than a bit like the box office smash from 2000 (really? that far back?) MEET THE PARENTS. It just so happens that this new film is directed by one of the screenwriters of that hit comedy franchise (had a hand with the two sequels, too). Like DeNiro is in those flicks, this papa looks at his little girl’s beau and nearly screams WHY HIM?

At an Applebee’s private room in frigid Minnesota, a birthday celebration is going on for Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston). Joinng in the festivities are his wife of many years, Barb (Megan Mullally) and their teen son Scotty (Griffin Gluck), along with the employees of Ned’s company which produces and prints flyers (the little sale booklets inserted into your newspaper or stuffed into your mailbox). Ned and Barb’s oldest, daughter Stephanie (Zoe Deutch) is finishing up her classes at a California college, so she sends her best wishes via streaming internet video. It’s during this “chat” that Ned sees Steph’s boyfriend Laird Mayhew (James Franco). Ned actually sees way to much of him, since Laird is unaware of the camera. At work the next day, Ned’s “right hand man” Lou (Cedric the Entertainer) warns him about several clients that have taken their advertising budget elsewhere, though there’s still a “big fish” that Ned may be able to snare. Still, the plans for the Christmas holiday continue and the Fleming family flies out west to join Stephanie. But Laird insists they stay with him at his complex. It seems that the goofy Mr; Mayhew is a tech billionaire, all stemming from a series of very successful games (something with heavily armed gorillas). Ned chafes at the opulent house, though his wife and son adore the plush surroundings, and Ned’s live-in consultant/trainer/manager Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key). Then Laird drops a bombshell on Ned: he wants to marry Stephanie and hopes for Ned’s blessing. From then on it’s an all-out battle of the wills between the old-fashioned father and the free-spirited, unconventional goofy “gazillionaire”.

This flick marks a most welcome return to the world of slapstick, screwball comedy by Cranston. After his dramatic triumphs on TV in “Breaking Bad” and on Broadway as LBJ in “All the Way” , it’s good to see that he’s not lost his comic chops that were developed during his years as looney dad Hal On TV’s “Malcom in the Middle”. Cranston’s Ned is a comic whirlwind careening from aggravation to bewilderment to scheming mastermind. Unfortunately his sparring partner is not really up to his skill level. Now, Laird is more of a one note character, but Franco doesn’t make the guy that interesting by relying on his non-stop squinting grins and obscenity eruptions with  occasional moments of grade-school pouting. Perhaps he’s intended to be a sweet simpleton, but his quirks and ticks wear painfully thin. Cranston’s more in sync with another TV comedy vet, Mullally. They make a most believable pair, until the script decides that Barb needs to loosen up and get frisky to score some easy laughs. Luckily the terrific Mr. Key pops up to give the film an edgy jolt as the keeper of the castle’s secrets. Sadly, the lovely Ms. Deutch, so delightful recently in EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!, has little to do, other than bounce between the two lead actors, and disappears for much of the story. Cedric’s main function is to engage in raunchy phone conversations with Cranston. Another rising comedy star, Adam Devine is restrained in a brief cameo as a rival tech tycoon, while stage and TV vets Casey Wilson and Andrew Rannells are truly under-used as ultra-rich, uncomfortably close siblings.

Director?co-writer showed great comic flair in his last feature, the “bromance” gem I LOVE YOU, MAN, but seems to have a difficult time finding the right tone and maintaining the pace, perhaps due to the haphazard script he worked on with Ian Helfer and Jonah Hill (a frequent Franco co-star). Laird’s potty mouth is truly repetitive as is his seeming allergy to clothing (to end the scene with a laugh, just cut to a shot of his bare backside or some wacky new tattoo). Some bits just don’t go anywhere (one of Ned’s IT guys, a fellow with a wife and kids, has a skeevy obsession with Steph), while much of the plotting leads to very predictable payoffs. We know Ned’s business problems will be exposed and exploited. Oh, and early on we learn of Ned and Barb’s devotion to a band and a countdown begins to their inevitable “surprise” appearance (a bit borrowed from Wilson/Phillips in BRIDESMAIDS). Speaking of “borrowing” one repeated bit has Gustav ambushing Laird as part of his self-defense training. Ned mentions the “Pink Panther” movie series, as Laird and Gustav feign ignorance. Acknowledging the source material doesn’t make it less of a swipe. But the script’s biggest crime is the under-written character of Stephanie. She’s merely the prize that Ned and Laird clash over for most of the story. Her character finally stands up for herself in the final act, but her monologue doesn’t set things right: she’s a doll in a near-ending “tug-of-war”. The film is more consistent than the recent dud, OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY, and Cranston is a superb comic actor (he did have some funny moments last year as TRUMBO). He helps breathe life into the too familiar conventions of WHY HIM?
2.5 Out of 5