by Josh Sewell
Peter Farrelly has an intriguing filmography to say the least. He spent most of his career making silly, entertaining comedies with his brother Bobby, including Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary and the underrated Kingpin. However, once he set out on his own, he seemed drawn to more serious fare.
Farrelly won the Oscar for Best Picture right out of the gate, with 2018’s well-meaning but dreadful Green Book – which instantly became one of the worst movies to ever nab the highly coveted prize. He followed that up with 2022’s Vietnam War dramedy The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which quickly disappeared on Apple TV+.
Now, in a jarring about-face, Farrelly reunites with his Beer Run star Zac Efron for Ricky Stanicky, a crude, R-rated comedy more in line with his ’90s stuff. Is it good? Not really, but there are some solid jokes and it’s got a surprising amount of pathos under all the gross-out gags. To be honest, it’s still better than Green Book.
Ricky Stanicky revolves around three lifelong best friends (played by Efron, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler as adults) who invent the imaginary titular character to take the blame when a childhood prank goes horribly wrong. Now that they’re adults, the guys still occasionally use their “pal” as an excuse to get them out of commitments like work meetings and baby showers.
When their spouses and partners get suspicious about this mysterious guy they’ve never met, they demand to finally make his acquaintance. In a desperate move, the guilty trio hire “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena), a wannabe actor and X-rated Atlantic City performer, to bring Ricky Stanicky to life. However, when Rod decides to go Method and insert himself into every aspect of the guys’ lives, their plan goes off the rails in ways they never anticipated.
At nearly two hours, Ricky Stanicky is far too long to sustain its highly implausible premise, so I’m thankful for Cena’s absolutely bonkers commitment to selling every ridiculous aspect of these despicable characters’ imaginary friend. Despite Rod’s lewd profession, Cena instills in him a genuinely good heart and a desire to do whatever it takes to rise above his current awful circumstances.
That’s why he goes to absurd lengths to stay connected to people who want absolutely nothing to do with him once he helps them out of the decades-long mess they’ve made for themselves. Even though I downright loathed the guys they play in the flick, Efron and Santino are unafraid to come off as truly unlikable for most of the story.
As you might imagine, Efron’s got the charisma to keep viewers rooting for him, and I totally understand why he’d want to make a relatively light movie with a former collaborator after shooting a brutal drama like The Iron Claw. However, Santino’s character is just the worst. That’s why Fowler’s endearing work is puzzling in comparison. As the group’s easygoing stoner, he’s constantly calling out his pals’ behavior and wants to come clean from the beginning. It made me wonder the entire time why he continues to hang out with them.
I just feel bad for Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic and Daniel Monks, who are stuck with the thankless task of playing the main characters’ significant others. They get almost nothing to do aside from act clueless and then angry when the guys’ dumb plan inevitably falls apart.
Granted, why am I expecting logical human behavior from a movie like this in the first place? Prime Video is a perfect place for a comedy that requires viewers to turn off their brains and just roll with the episodic nature of the premise.
Factor in a conclusion that somehow tugs at the heartstrings – even though the protagonists have spent the previous 100 minutes behaving like spoiled toddlers – and Ricky Stanicky proves it has the capability to shamelessly manipulate viewers into having a decent time. It’s the perfect “folding laundry” or “hanging out with friends” movie, so I can see it having a successful future on Amazon’s streaming service.
(Ricky Stanicky is rated R for sexual material, language throughout and some drug content. Now available on Prime Video.)
Grade: C+
Farrelly won the Oscar for Best Picture right out of the gate, with 2018’s well-meaning but dreadful Green Book – which instantly became one of the worst movies to ever nab the highly coveted prize. He followed that up with 2022’s Vietnam War dramedy The Greatest Beer Run Ever, which quickly disappeared on Apple TV+.
Now, in a jarring about-face, Farrelly reunites with his Beer Run star Zac Efron for Ricky Stanicky, a crude, R-rated comedy more in line with his ’90s stuff. Is it good? Not really, but there are some solid jokes and it’s got a surprising amount of pathos under all the gross-out gags. To be honest, it’s still better than Green Book.
Ricky Stanicky revolves around three lifelong best friends (played by Efron, Andrew Santino and Jermaine Fowler as adults) who invent the imaginary titular character to take the blame when a childhood prank goes horribly wrong. Now that they’re adults, the guys still occasionally use their “pal” as an excuse to get them out of commitments like work meetings and baby showers.
When their spouses and partners get suspicious about this mysterious guy they’ve never met, they demand to finally make his acquaintance. In a desperate move, the guilty trio hire “Rock Hard” Rod (John Cena), a wannabe actor and X-rated Atlantic City performer, to bring Ricky Stanicky to life. However, when Rod decides to go Method and insert himself into every aspect of the guys’ lives, their plan goes off the rails in ways they never anticipated.
At nearly two hours, Ricky Stanicky is far too long to sustain its highly implausible premise, so I’m thankful for Cena’s absolutely bonkers commitment to selling every ridiculous aspect of these despicable characters’ imaginary friend. Despite Rod’s lewd profession, Cena instills in him a genuinely good heart and a desire to do whatever it takes to rise above his current awful circumstances.
That’s why he goes to absurd lengths to stay connected to people who want absolutely nothing to do with him once he helps them out of the decades-long mess they’ve made for themselves. Even though I downright loathed the guys they play in the flick, Efron and Santino are unafraid to come off as truly unlikable for most of the story.
As you might imagine, Efron’s got the charisma to keep viewers rooting for him, and I totally understand why he’d want to make a relatively light movie with a former collaborator after shooting a brutal drama like The Iron Claw. However, Santino’s character is just the worst. That’s why Fowler’s endearing work is puzzling in comparison. As the group’s easygoing stoner, he’s constantly calling out his pals’ behavior and wants to come clean from the beginning. It made me wonder the entire time why he continues to hang out with them.
I just feel bad for Lex Scott Davis, Anja Savcic and Daniel Monks, who are stuck with the thankless task of playing the main characters’ significant others. They get almost nothing to do aside from act clueless and then angry when the guys’ dumb plan inevitably falls apart.
Granted, why am I expecting logical human behavior from a movie like this in the first place? Prime Video is a perfect place for a comedy that requires viewers to turn off their brains and just roll with the episodic nature of the premise.
Factor in a conclusion that somehow tugs at the heartstrings – even though the protagonists have spent the previous 100 minutes behaving like spoiled toddlers – and Ricky Stanicky proves it has the capability to shamelessly manipulate viewers into having a decent time. It’s the perfect “folding laundry” or “hanging out with friends” movie, so I can see it having a successful future on Amazon’s streaming service.
(Ricky Stanicky is rated R for sexual material, language throughout and some drug content. Now available on Prime Video.)
Grade: C+
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment