4/5
(PG15) US. Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Jamie Foxx
Nervous dad-to-be Peter (Downey) has an architect’s verbal preciseness, and there’s real pathos in watching him stripped of his luggage, wallet and identity, and placed on the no-fly list by overzealous airport security.
Peter’s nemesis is Ethan (Galifianakis), a strangely needy Hollywood hopeful with a luxuriant perm. Ethan has masterful powers of infuriation, but a working credit card and rental car. The best scenes in Due Date are their arguments and make-up moments, one staged at the Grand Canyon, when the movie feels closer to a relationship drama than anything else. Director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) goes too far sometimes (border-jail breakout?), but his new direction is definitely promising.
