Due Date
2010 · Directed by Todd Phillips
Original language: English
- comedy
- drama
The story
Peter Highman must scramble across the US in five days to be present for the birth of his first child. He gets off to a bad start when his wallet and luggage are stolen, and put on the 'no-fly' list. Peter embarks on a terrifying journey when he accepts a ride from an actor.
What it’s like
Bright, sun-bleached road-trip comedy: wide highway shots under hard daylight, dusty motel rooms, gas-station fluorescents, rest stops and diners rendered in warm, saturated color that feels like a rental car with the windows down. The camera is loose and handheld for the chaos, cutting quickly between the two leads in cramped car interiors, and the score is a bouncy, ukulele-and-guitar mix that keeps the mood cheerful even when things turn ugly. Its vibe is brash, affectionate and scrappy, the kind of movie that suits a lazy weekend afternoon, a long-haul flight, or a cheap laugh with friends. Pacing is brisk and relentless, with one escalating mishap after another, and the tone stays comic even through its rougher, drug-and-booze-fuelled stretches. Violence is brief and mostly slapstick, with some sharp insults, crude sexual jokes, drug use, and a couple of genuinely startling moments of injury and menace that land more as shock than gore. At its heart is a tightly wound, buttoned-up man slowly loosening up beside an impulsive, lonely drifter. It is for viewers who want raunchy, big-hearted buddy comedy and don't mind a lot of crude humour.
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