DIRTY GRANDPA - review

DIRTY GRANDPA
Director: Dan Mazer
Cast: Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Mantzoukas, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Hough, Jeffrey, Bowyer-Chapman

Synopsis: Uptight lawyer Jason Kelly (Zac Efron) is one week away from marrying his boss's controlling daughter (Julianne Hough), putting him on the fast track for a partnership in his firm. Tricked by his grandfather Dick (Robert De Niro), Jason finds himself driving the foul mouthed old man to Daytona Beach, Florida, for a wild spring break that includes frat parties, bar fights and an epic night of karaoke. While Jason worries about the upcoming wedding, Dick tries to show his grandson how to live life to the fullest. 

In a complete change of scene, I took a break from my Best Motion Picture nominee viewings to squeeze in a little bit of shirtless Zac Efron, and while most of the jokes are more cringe-worthy than funny, those that do work will have your crying with laughter. To be honest I was not expecting much from this film, the trailer doesn't do it any favours, nor do the copious amounts of reviews touting it as the worst film of 2016. One reviewer even said "I wouldn't recommend watching this while still alive" or something to that effect. Now, that seems a bit extreme, I mean anyone can tell from the trailer that this is going to be a trashy, b-grade film and with that in mind I think it's unfair to then carry on about how b-grade it is. What did you think it was going to be? The greatest piece of cinematic history that never was? That right there is one of my pet peeves when it comes to reviewers. Not every film is going to be Oscar material, not every film is meant to make you think deep and meaningful thoughts, or question the whole human existence. Some films are meant to be mindless pieces of drivel that let you escape the shitiness of the world for 100 minutes, and that's exactly what DIRTY GRANDPA is. A piece of mindless drivel that let me escape the shitiness of the world for 100 minutes, and honestly, Zac Efron wearing nothing but a hornet plush covering his junk and dancing to the Macarena is everything I could have hoped for and more.

Seriously, what more do you want? 

Gif via Perez Hilton

One week out from his wedding Jason Kelly is duped into driving his Grandfather to Florida the day after his Grandmother's funeral because Grandpa can't drive and Grandma would have wanted it. Arriving to pick up his Grandpa, Jason cops an eyeful of his Grandpa doing a 'number 3', and it all spirals downhill from there. With lines like "throw the clubs in the giant labia you drove up in" referring to Jason's fiance's pastel pink mini, you know the direction the film is headed, and it can go one of two ways, you can either resist, or go with it. I recommend going with it, you'll have a much better time of it if you do.

The car that is referred to as a "giant labia" and yes, it is all downhill from there

Image via Lionsgate

Stopping for lunch on the road they run into an unlikely trio of college students, one of whom was in Jason's photography class before he became an uptight lawyer. The magical show stealer is Aubrey Plaza who plays a college girl with a penchant for older men, and her dry delivery makes the ridiculous lines she's been given hysterical. Wrong, so very wrong, but hysterical. The on screen comedic chemistry between Plaza and De Niro really makes this film. It's like Plaza knows she's got a raw deal with her script and De Niro is giving the finger to cinema goers everywhere and it's magical. To be fair, at his age and with his career history, De Niro has earned the right to give us all the finger and do whatever the hell he wants.

As if her face doesn't say it all - magical

Image via Lionsgate

Grandpa Dick makes out like the trip is all about him getting laid now that he's single for the first time in 40 years, but really it's about getting Jason to realise he's about to make the biggest mistake of his life. He's let everyone tell him what to do with his life - his father, his boss and now his fiancé - and he's become but a shadow of his former self. With the help of illicit drugs, frat parties, bar fights, their three new friends and some epic karaoke (Efron singing Celine Dion is magic), slowly but surely Jason finally comes to the realisation that his Grandpa is not a crazy nut bag, he's right. Then, boy chases girl in an ice cream truck, girl says she won't stay, boy goes with girl and everything ends happily ever after.

Not everything about this film works, there are some bits that reached a whole new level of wrong, but there are lines like this;
"Where do you get your taxes done? H and R Cockblock?" 
And this;
"Tell me it was better under Eisenhower"
That had me crying with laughter.

Everyone loves a good selfie

Image via Lionsgate

If you're expecting anything more than mindless drivel, then you will be sorely disappointed. But, if you take it for what it is and don't even worry about it then you might get a few laughs out of it. I know I did. Sure, there are moments that leave you thinking "oh no you di'nt", but there are moments that are truly funny. If you want a good girls night out with a piece of shit film, a glass of wine (ok who are we kidding, a bottle of wine), and a shirtless Zac Efron singing Celine Dion, then go, spend the 20-something dollars and indulge in this guilty pleasure of a film. It's not a great film, he'll it's not even a good film, but I don't feel like I completely wasted my life, I had a laugh and Zac Efron as I mentioned dances to the Macarena almost naked and sings Celine Dion. Win win really.

3 out 5

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell