Due Date

This is some kind of hellacious highway nightmare. With equal parts horror and comedy, it pits two extremely different personalities against one another on a long road trip, and the resultant behavior is marginally funny and often monstrous. After seeing Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis go at it in this evil bastard cousin of Planes, Trains & Automobiles, I think the two actors really must’ve hated each other at some point during filming. They are just far too good at giving each other the worst of times. Peter Highman (Downey Jr.) has a baby on the way, and he needs to get home to his wife (Michelle Monaghan) pronto. A series of mishaps courtesy of Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis), an actor wannabe, gets him placed on the no-fly list. Peter is stranded in Atlanta with no luggage, no wallet and virtually no hope. Along comes Ethan in a Subaru Impreza, with a French bulldog and his father’s ashes in tow. He offers a ride, Peter begrudgingly accepts, and the nightmare begins. Directed by Todd Phillips, who also did The Hangover, this isn’t the constant laugh riot that was that money sponge. But the leads are good, and there’s enough laughter to put it over the top.