Due Date’s plot is summarised simply enough; it’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles starring Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis instead of John Candy and Steve Martin.  As with its John Hughes predeccessor the film entails an Odd Couple (just think, Downey Jr plays an overachiever and Galifianakis is a slacker!) forced to travel across America by any means at their disposal due to a series of frequently comedic calamities.  Whereas the Hughes picture had an abundance of plausibility, sentimentality and deft comedic timing, however, Due Date has Todd Phillips (Starsky & Hutch, The Hangover) at the helm and a plot that becomes more grotesque and ridiculous with each passing minute. 

Which isn’t to say it’s an entirely bad film; Downey Jr is so talented that footage of him wallpapering his house would likely make for compelling viewing, and the multifaceted comedic abilities of Galifianakis are also prominently on display. In fact the bearded funnyman essentially carries the entire film; Downey Jr simply isn’t given enough to work with and the beautiful Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is completely wasted in her miniscule supporting role as the expectant wifey awaiting the return of her yuppie beau. 

The problem is a series of escalating, confusing and incredibly unlikely plot convolutions that early on beggar belief and by the closing scenes border on the psychotic.  The film doesn’t just call for suspension of disbelief, it requires the viewer to take every ounce of disbelief in his body, lock it in an airtight chest, sail it out to the middle of the Pacific and let it sink slowly to the ocean floor. 

The end result is that Due Date doesn’t really work as either a romance or a comedy.  I’ve seen it twice now and I’m still not really sure what it is.  There are some great lines and impressive on-screen talent, but unfortunately here Phillips oversteps the mark of good taste and plausibility one too many times.  Or make that five or six too many times.  Either way the film is just a shadow of what it could have been, and if it’s an unlikely-pairing-trans-American-comedy you’re after, you still need look no further than Planes, Trains and Automobiles. 

Extras

- Complete Two and a Half Men scene with Ethan Tremblay

- 3 deleted and extended scenes

- 6-minute Gag Reel

- Action Mash Up (a compilation of action scenes from the film)

- Too Many Questions (Ethan Tremblay outtakes)

The Blu-ray Combo Pack also contains DVD and digital copies of the film.