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| Bryan Cranston & James Franco (r) star in Why Him? |
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Over the holidays, Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter (Zoey Deutch) at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco.) The straight-laced Ned thinks Laird, who has absolutely no filter, is a wildly inappropriate match for his daughter. The one-sided rivalry - and Ned's panic level - escalate when he finds himself increasingly out of step in the glamorous high-tech hub, and learns that Laird is about to pop the question. Directed by John Hamburg.
Franco declares, "Sometimes you just have to say fuck it." Sometimes is OK, but every other line? Hamburg tosses subtlety out the window (and drives over it) in Why Him?, a movie that tries way too hard to be raunchy... sacrificing funny in the process. What a shame, given the impressive comedic cast at his disposal (Keegan-Michael Key, Megan Mullally.) Cranston and Franco's talents are equally wasted as the stereotypical uptight dad & 30-something adolescent (dis)respectively. This could have been a lot better (Little Fockers, Zoolander 2, sense a pattern?) but odds are, it will be forgotten by Christmas morning.
Grade: D- (I laughed once, hence the "passing" mark.)
