"Why Him?" is an Unfunny Mess

Why Him? (2016)

Perhaps my first mistake with the new comedy Why Him? was going into it with any sort of expectations at all. I've been a fan of Bryan Cranston ever since seeing him as the goofy father in Malcolm in the Middle and I've always admired his abilities as a serious actor and as a comedic one. Bearing that in mind, I suppose I unintentionally found myself with moderately high expectations when going into this movie. Not necessarily high expectations, but certainly not expectations that were as low as they probably should have been. First and foremost, allow me to offer this piece of advice: if you laughed during the trailer you will probably laugh during the movie, most likely at the scenes you laughed at during the trailer, because those are essentially all of the big comedic moments of the film. If you didn't laugh during the trailer, then you're simply going to find yourself bored and wondering why you thought seeing this movie was a good idea.

The premise is promising, admittedly. It's set up as a sort of modern take on Meet the Parents which focuses on the parents perspective of meeting their daughter's boyfriend who, secretly, intends to propose to their daughter. Bryan Cranston plays the stern and serious father who only wants what's best for his daughter, and James Franco is the "lovable" eccentric millionaire who wants to make her his wife. Unfortunately, the execution of the premise is an absolute disaster. James Franco's character is intended to be shown as someone who is, deep down, a sweet and genuine person. Unfortunately, it appears that the screenwriter forgot to include all of the scenes which would reveal these traits. Instead, he's never developed beyond his loudmouth, repulsive, and profane behavior, and we never get those shining moments where we realize just what his girlfriend sees in him. Instead, we see him cursing, her reminding him to watch his language, him apologizing and accidentally cursing again, and then her rolling her eyes in disgust because she's lost all hope.

The film also makes a vain effort at making a statement regarding the fast paced nature of technology and of businesses which work in the gaming industry. At least, it appears that this is what it's trying to do, but instead it just shows how cool it is to do what looks like playing video games for a living, and manages to date itself permanently as a film released in 2016 wit the references frequently dropped combined with playing modern top charting hits of the year. Admittedly, even watching this film barely a week into 2017 turned it into an absolute dated mess, though the film hardly cares enough to turn itself into something memorable.

While you may find yourself going into this movie bracing yourself for the dreaded instances where it struggles to cram some heartfelt message into its script, you're going to find yourself relieved the moment you realize that will never be the case. Just like the film drops potentially fascinating plot threads involving James Franco's character's past as a serial monogamist with a lengthy history of fleeting failed relationships, it also completely forgets to try and force any scenes intended to make its audience members tear up and hope for the best for the young couple they've watched (not that they watched much of them at all, the daughter is more of a passive and silent background character while James Franco drops sexual innuendos and tries to call Bryan Cranston 'dad'). Any scenes which hint to the movie going in a more interesting direction are forgotten as quickly as they are realized, and it's a shame because there were instances where I caught myself hoping that the film was finally going to turn into something interesting.

If, for some reason, you're fascinated with seeing Why Him? in theaters (perhaps if you're, like me, a fan of movies which are so bad that they're good) it's still playing in most cinemas. Just make sure to brace yourself for an excruciating time.