Review: Why Him?

With a talented comedic cast including Bryan Cranston, James Franco and Megan Mullally and directed by John Hamburg who was the screenwriter of some modern day classic comedies such as Meet the Parents, Zoolander and I Love You Man , I had high hopes for Why Him? The comedy genre is one which has suffered in recent times with most comedies just blending into each other with formulaic gross out gags and predictable storylines. Surely with such talent on show, off and on screen, this movie would be the excepection rather than the rule of modern day comedies? Unfortuntately this answer is an overwhelming no!
Based over the Christmas holiday period an over-protective dad Ned (Bryan Cranston) and his family get to meet his daughter's new abbraisive and filter-less boyfriend (James Franco) and what transpires is the usual battle of wills between father and daughter's boyfriend!
The casting of Bryan Cranston and James Franco in the respective roles of Father and daughter's boyfriend cannot be faulted and I feel that had the source material been up to scratch that they both would have done it justice such is there undoubtable comedic talents. The plot however, is predictable and contains an oversubscription of gross out gags - some which land - the majority which don't!
It's real straight to DVD fare and even at only two hours still feels that bit too long! The rudeness and crassness of the script hides the casts talents and that is what is most frustrating aspect of this movie. Even though the storyline has been seen numerous times before - with a perfectly suited and more than capable cast this has to go down as a missed opportunity! A movie that enables the brain to shut down for nearly two hours - just don't expect a lot of entertainment alongside it!
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