Due Date

Rating: ***

Due Date is carrying The Hangover,of that surprise hit by director Todd Phillips a year ago. And no one seems to be drunk on that film’s success more than Zach Galifianakis,who plays again a well-meaning oddball with hair over more than half of his face and trousers over barely half his bottom.

If that was about four friends of whom one may not make it to his wedding — courtesy all that Las Vegas can throw their way — in Due Date,it’s Ethan (Zach) who basically stands between Peter (Downey Jr) and the delivery room where his wife is giving birth to their first child.

The sober,straight Peter,with a mobile earphone glued to him at all times,has it all well planned. In Atlanta for a business trip,he has been pondering over a list of baby names even as he gets ready for the flight home,to loving wife Sarah (Monaghan). Till,at the airport,he runs,literally,into Ethan.

Soon they find themselves taken off the plane to LA,as Ethan strings together two of the most dreaded words in aviation history – “terrorist” and “bomb” — and put on the no-fly list. With his wallet on the baggage that’s still on the flight,Peter has little choice but to hitch a ride with Ethan and his dog Sunny.

Peter’s initial fears about Ethan being trouble are confirmed within the first few minutes as he bombards him with questions which careen from his profession to the age in which he lost his virgnity. Peter attempts being patient and then goes rude but,of course,Ethan is an unstoppable force.

By the time Peter gets home,he has been shot with a rubber bullet,shot with a real one,has been beaten up,has survived two car crashes,been arrested and almost drunk a man’s ashes.

It’s funny all right,but Due Date takes all the pitstops a film of its nature,with a straight guy and one who doesn’t fit any such description,would take — even pairing a man expecting his first child with a man grieving his recently dead father. The Hangover,in contrast,found the craziest diversions in a story that has also been told several times before.

What lifts the Due Date above average is the team of Downey Jr and Galifianakis,who bring their own nuances into their roles. Downey Jr is hot-tempered but warm-hearted — and struggling with being both.

And then,even if he is reprising his Hangover role,there is still nobody who can match the gait of Galifianakis as he walks away from a “situation”: Shoulders held straight,chest thrust out,waist swinging but barely,holding his dog’s leash by its tip and giving it a tug,just so.

shalini.langer@expressindia.com