Once the credits started rolling for Dirty Grandpa, the only thing I could say was, "Oh my god." It was shocking. From beginning to end the movie is shock humor, gross-out humor, crass, offensive, childish and stupid. But you know what? I laughed a lot. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't entertained throughout most of this movie. Sure, it follows a lot of road trip movie tropes and the perfunctory fight/make-up conflict near the end, but one thing about Dirty Grandpa is that it's consistent. Dirty joke after dirty joke; some of them hit, some of them miss, but they don't stop. Some of these things I never thought I'd hear come out of Robert De Niro's mouth, but the fact that it's him saying it makes it all the more funny. People will say this is a slap in the face to his legacy, but it really isn't. The Family was. Little Fockers was. This movie knows what it is - a lewd, politically incorrect road trip comedy, and it succeeds in that regard.
What surprised me most about Dirty Grandpa is the chemistry between Zac Efron and Robert De Niro. They have a great comedic rapport that actually feels authentic, which helps the more insane scenes retain some semblance of realism (as thin as it may be). The rest of the cast is enjoyable too, especially Aubrey Plaza as the overtly slutty college girl who continuously surprised me with every grotesque statement uttered from her mouth. Oddly enough, De Niro feels right at home here. It's as if his character from Meet the Parents went off the deep end and decided to go on a spring break road trip with Zac Efron. Seriously, his character is ex-special forces and everything. Efron also proves once again that he's a comedic force to be reckoned with playing the straight corporate man put in awkward social situations.
I don't know what people were expecting from Dirty Grandpa. Look at the title, look at the trailers. Are you really surprised? It was marketed as a gross-out comedy from day one, and guess what? It's gross. It's vile; it's degrading; it's shockingly inappropriate. Is it a good movie? Not a chance in hell. But the goal of a comedy is to make the viewer laugh, and Dirty Grandpa made me laugh. Hard.
Now, if you don't like offensive humor, you should stay the hell away from this. Just know what you're getting into before seeing Dirty Grandpa and you can definitely have some fun watching it.
What surprised me most about Dirty Grandpa is the chemistry between Zac Efron and Robert De Niro. They have a great comedic rapport that actually feels authentic, which helps the more insane scenes retain some semblance of realism (as thin as it may be). The rest of the cast is enjoyable too, especially Aubrey Plaza as the overtly slutty college girl who continuously surprised me with every grotesque statement uttered from her mouth. Oddly enough, De Niro feels right at home here. It's as if his character from Meet the Parents went off the deep end and decided to go on a spring break road trip with Zac Efron. Seriously, his character is ex-special forces and everything. Efron also proves once again that he's a comedic force to be reckoned with playing the straight corporate man put in awkward social situations.
I don't know what people were expecting from Dirty Grandpa. Look at the title, look at the trailers. Are you really surprised? It was marketed as a gross-out comedy from day one, and guess what? It's gross. It's vile; it's degrading; it's shockingly inappropriate. Is it a good movie? Not a chance in hell. But the goal of a comedy is to make the viewer laugh, and Dirty Grandpa made me laugh. Hard.
Now, if you don't like offensive humor, you should stay the hell away from this. Just know what you're getting into before seeing Dirty Grandpa and you can definitely have some fun watching it.