Why Him?- Movie Review

This funny comedy leaves the audience astounded by over-the-top humor throughout the film.

Adrienne Brookstein '18, News Editor

Why Him? hit the box office one week before Christmas, and the comedy could not have been released at a better time. The film ties in a Christmas themed story alongside family dilemmas. The counteracting chaos within the plot somehow makes sense, and leaves the audience with a light heart and a sore stomach from laughing so much.

The movie had many big name actors such as James Franco (Laird Mayhew), Bryan Cranston (Ned Fleming), and Zoey Deutch (Stephanie Fleming). The actors display a natural chemistry that makes the story seamless, and never leaves the audience unsatisfied with their performance.

The movie starts with a bang and leaves the audience cringing and laughing at the same time. The lowbrow humor centers on the Fleming family awkwardly meeting their daughter, Stephanie’s secret boyfriend at the father’s birthday party over Skype. The incredibly inappropriate gestures from Stephanie’s boyfriend, Laird shocks and embarrasses the family terribly. From that point forward, the tension among the close knit family only intensifies. The Fleming family flies out to California to meet their daughter and her new mysterious man for the holidays.

The Flemings are shocked to learn that Stephanie’s unfiltered boyfriend, Laird is actually an internet billionaire who has already begun integrating himself into the family by getting the Fleming Christmas card tattooed on his back. Over the course of their vacation, Stephanie’s mother and brother open up their hearts to Laird’s eccentric personality. While their relationship seems to grow stronger, the patriarch of the family, Ned only attempts to deny Laird’s entrance to the family.

Moreover, the relationships of the characters within this film are fully developed, yet the characters individually seemed to lack depth. The story progresses at a slow and steady rate, but when moments arose for the characters to let their personality shine, it seemed like the script falls short. At times, the character’s actions are terribly predictable, it still left the audience amused throughout the majority of the film.

The writers of the film, Jonah Hill, John Hamburg, and Ian Helfer held absolutely nothing back in this film (not always with positive results). Emotions are raw, and the humor is practically unfiltered. In my opinion, I feel that the overly crude humor was unnecessary, and held the potential to distract the audience from the main storyline of the film.

Overall, the plot of the film was straightforward with enough wiggle room to crack inappropriate jokes. Nonetheless, the targeted audience of the film should find the movie to be a perfect fit for the holidays. The film most definitely gave the audience a chance to relax during the stressful season.

In my opinion, I feel that Why Him?’s targets a mature audience. The film can obviously be enjoyed by people of all ages, but the inappropriate gestures within the movie maybe too explicit for younger audiences. The film definitely lives up to its R rating, so just be careful with whom you decide to see this film.