R.I.P.D.

R.I.P.D.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Schwentke
Produced by	Peter M. Lenkov Neal H. Moritz Mike Richardson
Screenplay by	Phil Hay Matt Manfredi
Story by	David Dobkin Phil Hay Matt Manfredi
Based on	Rest in Peace Department  by Peter M. Lenkov
Starring	Jeff Bridges Ryan Reynolds Kevin Bacon Mary-Louise Parker Stephanie Szostak
Music by	Christophe Beck[1]
Cinematography	Alwin H. Küchler
Edited by	Mark Helfrich
Production company	Dark Horse Entertainment Original Film Relativity Media
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	July 17, 2013 (2013-07-17) (Iceland) July 19, 2013 (2013-07-19) (United States)
Running time	96 minutes[2]
Country	United States[3]
Language	English
Budget	$130 million[4][5]
Box office	$78.3 million[5]

R.I.P.D. (released with the subtitle Rest In Peace Department) is a 2013 American supernatural action-comedy buddy cop film starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. Robert Schwentke directed the film based on a screenplay adapted from the comic book Rest in Peace Department by Peter M. Lenkov. The film also stars Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker and Stephanie Szostak.

Filming was completed on January 28, 2012,^[6] and the film was originally set to be released on June 28, 2013^[7] in the United States by Universal Pictures, but was pushed back to July 19, 2013. The film received negative reviews and was a box office flop.

Plot

Boston Police Department officers Detective Sergeant Nick Walker and Detective Lieutenant Bobby Hayes discover and steal several shards of gold while on duty. Nick buries his share under an orange tree sapling in his garden; his wife, Julia, thinks that the tree is a surprise gift and mentions how content she is with their life together. Nick realizes that they do not need the gold, and decides to submit it as evidence. During a subsequent raid, Hayes, dissatisfied with Nick's stroke of conscience, kills him.

In the afterlife, as penance for his thievery, Nick is recruited for the R.I.P.D. (The Rest In Peace Department). The R.I.P.D. is responsible for finding souls who refuse to move on to the afterlife, becoming "deados", monsters disguised as humans. He is partnered with Roycephus "Roy" Pulsipher, a former U.S. Marshal and participant in the American Civil War. On his first field mission, Nick aids Roy in interrogating a suspected deado, whereupon Nick discovers the perpetrator in possession of shards of gold like those he and Hayes had discovered. At his funeral, Nick attempts to make his presence known to Julia but is not recognized, as R.I.P.D. officers are given new identities and appearances to prevent revealing that the afterlife exists.

Nick dupes one of Roy's informants into revealing Hayes as his contact. They follow Hayes to Nick's old house, where he "discovers" Nick's stolen gold. After arguing over the gold, R.I.P.D. Chief Mildred Proctor receives orders to remove them from the case and from active duty due to this exposure. Proctor learns from Eternal Affairs that the gold could be used to construct the Staff of Jericho, which will reverse the flow of souls from earth to the afterlife.

After Nick and Roy make amends, they decide to work together to stop whatever Hayes is planning. They discover that Hayes is a deado after Hayes removes a charm that hides his "Stink"; a scent that all Deado's permeate, causing the house to rot and fall apart and have him arrested, but a confiscated item of his freezes the whole department, and Hayes and a group of deados escape with the remainder of the gold. They assemble the Staff of Jericho, and Hayes takes Julia hostage and stabs her as a necessary human sacrifice to activate the staff. A battle ensues; Pulsipher destroys the Staff of Jericho, and Nick exacts his revenge on Hayes. Close to death, Julia sees Nick for who he is; and they share a tearful farewell.

Later, Proctor informs Nick that Julia will live. She reinstates them both fully, though, as penance, she adds 53 years to Roy's term in the R.I.P.D. As a reward, Roy gives Nick a new appearance, but he is dismayed to find it is that of a Girl Scout.

Cast

• Jeff Bridges as Roycephus "Roy" Pulsipher,^[8] a United States Marshal and former American Civil War soldier from the Wild West and veteran officer of the R.I.P.D.
• Ryan Reynolds as Nick Walker,^[9] a detective sergeant of the Boston Police Department who is murdered and becomes Roy Pulsipher's partner.
• Kevin Bacon as Bobby Hayes,^[10] a detective lieutenant of the Boston Police Department who is in league with the deados.
• Mary-Louise Parker as Mildred Proctor:^[11] Head of the Boston Police Department R.I.P.D.
• Stephanie Szostak as Julia Walker,^[12] Nick's wife/widow.
• James Hong as Grandpa Jerry Chen, Nick's avatar #1.^[13]
• Marisa Miller as Opal Pavlenko, Roy's avatar.^[14]
• Devin Ratray as Pulaski
• Robert Knepper as Stanley Nawlicki, a Deado.
• Mike O'Malley as Elliot,^[13] Fenway Park's scoreboard operator.
• Larry Joe Campbell as Officer Murphy
• Piper Mackenzie Harris as Girl Scout, Nick's avatar #2.
• Toby Huss, Mike Judge, and Jon Olson as Various Deado Voices

Zach Galifianakis was originally cast as Roy Pulsipher, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.^[15] Jodie Foster was originally considered for the role of Proctor, but in the end, Mary-Louise Parker was cast.^[16]

Music

The soundtrack to RIPD was released on July 16, 2013.

Release

Marketing

On July 16, Adult Swim's YouTube channel uploaded an animated prequel short, which was produced by Titmouse, Inc. and featured the voice work of Reynolds and Bridges.^[18]

Box office

The film grossed $12,691,415 at the domestic box office during its opening weekend, quickly being labeled a box office bomb with Universal President of Distribution Nikki Rocco stating "It failed, and we're unhappy, and I'm not going to make excuses." The film ended its theatrical run with $78,324,220 worldwide, including a $33,618,855 domestic total and an additional $44,705,365 in foreign markets.^[5] The film is currently considered one of the largest box office bombs of all time.^{[19][5][20][21]}

Critical response

R.I.P.D. was not initially screened for critics prior to its release, and upon its theatrical debut it received negative reviews.^[22] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 13% rating, based on 90 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's consensus states: "It has its moments – most of them courtesy of Jeff Bridges' rootin' tootin' performance as an undead Wild West sheriff – but R.I.P.D. is ultimately too dim-witted and formulaic to satisfy."^[23] At Metacritic, the film received a score of 25 out of 100, based on 27 critics; a generally unfavorable rating among critics, but has a mixed reception among the website's audience.^[22]

Film critic Roger Moore gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "the worst comic book adaptation since Jonah Hex."^[24] Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film a half-star out of four, writing,

For a movie that so strenuously rips off Ghostbusters and Men in Black, R.I.P.D. manages to come up with fresh new ways of being absolutely terrible. The plot manages to be fully predictable and freakishly bonkers at the same time, seemingly born of the same kind of brainstorming-on-L.S.D. session that must have given us Howard the Duck.^[25]

Video game

An Atlus published video game based on the film and titled R.I.P.D. The Game was released on July 16, 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game is a co-op third-person shooter, set around a survival mode. It was developed by Old School Games and features gameplay similar to their previous game, God Mode. Just like its film counterpart, R.I.P.D. The Game received mostly negative reviews.^[26]

References

External links

• Official website
• R.I.P.D. at the Internet Movie Database
• R.I.P.D. at Box Office Mojo
• R.I.P.D. at Rotten Tomatoes
• R.I.P.D. at Metacritic