Vince Vaughn’s poor run of form continues, as his latest ‘dramedy’ falls flat on its face after a promising and actually pretty funny start.
JOE has been a fan of Vaughn since he told Jon Favreau repeatedly he was “money” in the belting 90s classic flick that is Swingers. Once described as a successor to the moody throne of Marlon Brando, Vaughn went down the comedy route after huge success with Old School and then Wedding Crashers.
Let’s get one thing straight; Vince Vaughn is an extremely funny man. If you go back to the aforementioned movies you witness a man ram-raiding scenes and making an ostentatious getaway with the comedic swag. But he hasn’t made a funny movie in a long time now, and while trying something slightly different with Delivery Man was an ostensibly smart move, it simply doesn’t pay off.
Being that his initial career featured overtly dramatic performances in the underrated likes of Return to Paradise (a film he was very good in), it’s hardly a surprise that he’s attempted something a little more on the serious side – his last good film, The Break-Up had plenty of those moments.
Vaughn plays an Adam Sandler-style slacker who no one in his family, nor his girlfriend (the lovely Cobie Smulders) can seem to rely on. After finding out his sometime better half is up the Damien Duff, he decides he wants to turn his miserable life around and become a proper father. Then he finds out he’s fathered over 500 nippers through a sperm bank.
High concept? Yes. We’re told from the beginning he has “very strong sperm.” No shit! He also owes some wrong sorts 80 grand. ‘Cause there wasn’t already enough to squeeze in here…
The biggest problem with Delivery Man is it has far too much going on to really do anything right. When it needed an assured hand to even the obviously erratic tone, it simply jars – resulting in a not particularly funny or dramatic movie.
On the plus side, the always ace Chris Pratt does exceptionally well with the slim pickings he’s given; while Irishmen Simon Delaney and Jack Reynor muster enough screen time to register on the radar of those who matter in Hollywood.
Its heart’s in the right place and there are some amusing moments (thanks mainly to Pratt), but Ken Scott’s film is sadly a bit of a mess.
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