| Due Date | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Todd Phillips |
| Produced by | Todd Phillips Daniel Goldberg Susan Downey |
| Screenplay by | Alan R. Cohen Alan Freedland Adam Sztykiel Todd Phillips |
| Story by | Alan R. Cohen Alan Freedland |
| Starring | Robert Downey Jr. Zach Galifianakis Michelle Monaghan Juliette Lewis Jamie Foxx |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | Lawrence Sher |
| Editing by | Debra Neil-Fisher |
| Studio | Legendary Pictures Green Hat Films |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 31, 2010 (Night Visions Film Festival) November 5, 2010 (United States) |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $65 million[1] |
| Box office | $211,780,824 |
Due Date is a 2010 American comedy road film directed by Todd Phillips, co-written by Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, and Adam Sztykiel, and starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The film was released on November 5, 2010.[2] The film was shot in Las Cruces, New Mexico and Atlanta, Georgia.
Contents |
Peter Highman (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a high strung, type A architect on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles to be present at the birth of his first child, a scheduled C-section, with his wife, Sarah (Michelle Monaghan). Once on the plane, Peter learns that Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who had just prior to boarding at the airport, accidentally run his car through his door, is sitting behind him in first class. After inadvertently using the words "terrorist" and "bomb", Ethan gets Peter shot by a Federal Air Marshal (Steven M. Gagnon) with a rubber bullet. Both Peter and Ethan are forced off the plane before take-off.
After being questioned by security, Peter discovers that he has been placed on the No Fly List and will have to find another way to get to California. After realizing that he had left his wallet on the plane, Peter reluctantly agrees to travel with Ethan, an aspiring actor hoping to make it in Hollywood, to Los Angeles. Ethan is on his way to Hollywood after the funeral of his father, and is carrying his father's ashes in a coffee can on the trip.
After stopping in Birmingham, Alabama to purchase marijuana, Peter and Ethan realize that they collectively only have $60 in cash. Peter decides to have his wife transfer him money. Since he does not have his identification card, Peter has his wife transfer the money in Ethan's assumed last name. Once at Western Union, Ethan recalls the fact that the money has been sent to his stage name and therefore not his real name, Ethan Chase, which is on his only government-issue I.D. The Western Union employee (Danny McBride) does not accept Ethan's head shot as proof of ID and declines the transfer. Frustrated and on edge, Peter verbally attacks the man who, even though he is a wheel chair-bound veteran, attacks Peter in retaliation, firmly beating him.
After spending the night at a rest stop, Peter waits for Ethan to go to the restroom and leaves Ethan behind, only to return soon after to pick up Ethan from the rest stop. Ethan drives while Peter gets some rest. After driving a while, Ethan falls asleep at the wheel and the car crashes. At a Dallas hospital, Peter, who has a broken arm and three cracked ribs, is picked up by his friend Darryl (Jamie Foxx). Peter reluctantly decides to take Ethan along. Stopping at Darryl's house, Peter discovers that, nine months ago, Darryl and Sarah spent some time together. This information leads Ethan to accuse Darryl of being the possible father of Sarah and Peter's unborn child.
Darryl lets them use his Range Rover and, while driving, Ethan smokes marijuana as Peter dozes, and the smoke collects in the cabin, intoxicating Peter, as well. The two accidentally end up at the United States-Mexico border in El Paso when Ethan mistakes the security checkpoint for a gas station. Ethan flees from the border checkpoint and leaves Peter to be arrested for possession of the marijuana purchased earlier by Ethan. After being taken into custody by the Mexican Federal Police, Peter is broken out by Ethan who steals a border patrol truck in the process.
The duo stop at the Grand Canyon where Ethan spreads his father's ashes. Peter confesses that he did try to leave Ethan back at the rest area. Ethan then decides to also make a confession: he has had Peter's wallet since the plane. Peter attacks Ethan in rage. Sarah calls during the attack to inform Peter that her water has broken. Peter and Ethan immediately begin to rush toward California. Along the way, Ethan accidentally shoots Peter with a gun he had found in the truck's glove compartment. Peter does not stop to receive medical attention for his gunshot wound.
Arriving at the hospital while Sarah is in labor, Peter passes out in pain from his wounds. Peter and Sarah's healthy Caucasian baby girl is seen later in the nursery confirming that it was not Darryl's baby. Ethan recounts to Peter that he had assisted in Rosie's birth by cutting the umbilical cord, something that Peter had allegorically dreamed earlier in the film. The two go their separate ways with the promise that Peter will call Ethan to keep their friendship intact.
At the end of the film, Peter, Sarah, and Rosie watch an episode of Two and a Half Men, in which Ethan has landed a role.
Angus T. Jones was in the Two and a Half Men scene as Jake Harper, but the scene was cut short, and his cameo was not shown in the original run. Alan Arkin filmed scenes as Peter's long lost father, but they were not left in the final cut of the film.
The first trailer was released July 14, 2010. It was seen with Inception, Dinner for Schmucks and The Other Guys. The international trailer was released on September 2, 2010, and the full length trailer was released online on September 16, 2010. It was shown before The Town, and Life As We Know It.
Previews for the film feature the songs "New Moon Rising" by Wolfmother and the original version of "Check Yo Self" by Ice Cube.
In the film, Ethan expresses his love for the show Two and a Half Men. He also mentions that he started a website called itsrainingtwoandahalfmen.com. As a joke, a website was actually launched with the same name.[3]
Due Date (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was released on November 2, 2010 by WaterTower Music.
| Due Date (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | November 2, 2010 |
| Recorded | 2010 |
| Label | WaterTower Music |
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hold On, I'm Comin'" | Sam & Dave | 2:31 |
| 2. | "New Moon Rising" | Wolfmother | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Is There a Ghost" | Band of Horses | 2:59 |
| 4. | "People Are Crazy" | Billy Currington | 3:51 |
| 5. | "White Room" | Cream | 4:58 |
| 6. | "This Is Why I'm Hot" | MIMS | 4:17 |
| 7. | "Sweet Jane" | Cowboy Junkies | 3:35 |
| 8. | "Amazing Grace" | Rod Stewart | 2:02 |
| 9. | "Check Ya Self 2010 (feat. Chuck D with Lisa Kekaula)" | Ice Cube | 3:25 |
| 10. | "Glaucoma" | Christophe Beck | 2:13 |
| 11. | "A Good Sign" | Christophe Beck | 1:36 |
| 12. | "Ethan's Theme" | Christophe Beck | 1:19 |
The following songs are not included in the soundtrack, but they appear in some parts of the film:
Due Date received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 40% "rotten", or a 5.2/10 rating, based on 177 reviews. The consensus is, "Shamelessly derivative and only sporadically funny, Due Date doesn't live up to the possibilities suggested by its talented director and marvelously mismatched stars."[4] Metacritic gives the film a "mixed or average" score of 51%, based on reviews from 39 critics.[5]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film two and a half stars out of a possible four, noting "The movie probably contains enough laughs to satisfy the weekend audience. Where it falls short is in the characters and relationships." Ebert compares Due Date to the 1987 film Planes, Trains and Automobiles but bemoans that Due Date could have learned and offered more.[6]
Despite mixed critical reviews Due Date was commercially successful, it earned $12,216,515 domestically in its release day and $43,478,266 on its first week, placing behind Megamind but was number one in the UK for two consecutive weekends. On Monday, November 8th, 2010, it went up to #1 now above Megamind. On Friday, November 12th, it went down to #3 behind Unstoppable and Megamind. On Monday, November 15th, it went up to #2 behind Unstoppable. On Wednesday, November 24th, it went down to #8 behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Tangled, Burlesque, Megamind, Love and Other Drugs, Unstoppable and Faster. It closed in theaters on January 27th, 2011. As of April 2011 Due Date grossed over $100 million in the U.S.A. and Canada as well as $200 million worldwide, against a production budget of $65 million.[7]
Due Date was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 22, 2011.[8]
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