Director Dan Mazer
Genre Comedy
Cast Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Mantzoukas
Rating R
Release Date January 22nd, 2016
“Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a perverted former Army Lieutenant-Colonel “Special Forces” to Florida for spring break.”
Robert De Niro is no stranger to comedic films but he generally plays the buffer role and the laughs he provides are delivered indirectly in some way. Let’s face it, he fits the tough guy role and always has. Fairly unknown director Dan Mazer brings us Dirty Grandpa which intends to provide audiences with a multitalented version of their favorite actor, who is tough, funny, and full of personality. Add in Neighbors star Zac Efron and you have yourself quite the dynamic duo.
I went to see Dirty Grandpa with what I would consider to be level headed expectations, which more or less means I had an idea what I was getting myself into. Raunchy comedies tend to find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to critic appreciation much like graphic horror films or “torture porn” as some call them (think I Spit on Your Grave). Personally I prefer the latter but exceptions do exist, such as the star-studded hit comedy This Is The End which certainly pushed the envelope on raunchy comedy. Perhaps critics simply hate to see A-List stars like De Niro stoop to this level as they would say but big deal, let the guy have a little fun every once in a while.
Dirty Grandpa is an entertaining film that has enough for everybody starting with De Niro as a sex-crazed old man determined to act on his late wife’s final wishes to get back on the horse sort of speak. A stuck up soon to be married walking and talking Abercrombie and Fitch billboard played by Zac Efron who drives around in his fiancé’s pink Mini Cooper which basically sums up who wears the pants in that relationship. Michael Mantoukas is a drug dealing nut job and he basically plays his same exact role as Rafi from the hit FX show The League. Honestly, I could watch this guy all day.
Is the acting great? No. Does anyone involved deserve any sort of accolade for their work on the film? Again, no. What matters is the simple fact that right from the beginning the jokes start coming and never really stop. Some hit and some fall flat but this is the old fashioned method of quantity over quality and I am more than okay with that. If you think De Niro trying to nail a college-coed on spring break while doing whatever it takes to allow his prude grandson the opportunity to finally have some fun in his adult life might be entertaining than you could do much worse than Dirty Grandpa. Oh yeah, the film actually has some heart and somewhat of a message to it as well believe it or not.
Side note, an elderly couple did walk out of the theater after De Niro emphatically expressed his need for sexual relations due to a dry spell that lasted well over a decade. All I can say is if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen people.
