What’s it say about someone when they rip off their own work?
Why Him? comes to us from John Hamburg, writer of the three Meet the Parents movies. It would seem he’s opted to go back to the well, though this time from the perspective of the prospective (try saying that five times fast) father-in-law and with an R rating. The result is diminished returns of diminished returns.
Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston) has just turned 55, but his daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) can’t make the party on account of being in college half the country over. So she says hi through a webcam, where her boyfriend Laird (James Franco) is introduced to everyone by stripping as soon as he gets in her dorm room. Needless to say, it leaves a very bad first impression.
Wanting a do-over, they invite the family – also including wife/mom Barb (Megan Mullaly) and younger son/brother Scott (Griffin Gluck) – over for the holiday weekend. But they’re in for shock after shock, when they learn that Stephanie has not only moved in with Laird, but that Laird is a multimillionaire. The rest of the movie is about Ned not liking him while everyone else does – shades of What About Bob? – and you can figure out the rest from there.
The main problem is that, in addition to the movie not being very funny and too reliant on toilet humor (in this case literally), Laird just isn’t that bad a guy. Certainly the target audience is going to think he’s the coolest dude ever, but even those outside can see him as a likable figure. He might swear a bit too much and just overall lacks a filter when speaking, but he is otherwise a saint. Loyal, friendly, kind; he cares deeply for not just Stephanie, but everyone in the family, even before he meets them. He installs a bowling alley in his house solely because he knew that Ned likes bowling. How can they have this and still expect the audience to find him obnoxious?
Now, a better direction this could have been taken in would have been to zero in on Ned and Stephanie’s relationship, an area in which the Fockers films didn’t have much if any development. It might be a little on the cliche side to make him be afraid of losing her, but it fits with the character created for Laird: that his supposed major faults are only what Ned is projecting onto him because he can’t face his own fears. By the end, he would have to come to terms with his inner demons and realize about Laird what everyone else has all along, cue earned happy ending.
But no, that didn’t happen. Not helping matters is the fact that Stephanie already is living far away from them and has been for years, so any empty nest feelings in regards to her have been conquered well before the story began.
The better moments are those from TV comedy vets Mullaly and Keegan-Michael Key as Laird’s right hand man. Cranston and Franco acquit themselves well enough, while Deutch with what presence she does have makes the most of it. And the surprise appearances sprinkled throughout are rather inspired.
Hamburg might want to give this subject a rest for awhile. Though if he were to come back to it, it would be preferable that he add to this family’s tale. It’s at least better than Little Fockers.
