Why Him?

This review may contain spoilers!

2016 can't do a good Christmas film to save itself, just not even remotely. I would give Why Him? a 1.5/10.

This film is only aided along by it's scenes of sheer absurdity, every time the bar is raised and things get even more out of control the more chance the scene had of being funny.

James Franco, who played Laird Mayhew, is really not afraid to take his role to any level in this feature; his wild and unbridled approach to comedy led to some of the better moments of comedy. Kaley Cuoco, who voiced Justine, is one of the more original and entertaining aspects of the film; a snarky A.I. with more presence and impact than most of the cast.

However the best performance came from Keegan-Michael Key, who played Gustav. This is a really zany role, a sort of mentor figure to Franco who takes scenes to a fun and over the top place. It's very clear that Key was having fun throughout the film and he managed to keep a role that felt consistent and entertaining throughout. It was the close bond between Key and Franco that made the film so fun to watch; I especially liked their 'self-defense' training and 'evasive parkour'.

The comedy feels awkwardly handled and often unnatural, the jokes get taken so far that they just become more awkward or cringeworthy rather than funny. As far as the plot goes there clearly wasn't a whole lot there, certainly not enough to make a feature film out of. The rivalry between Franco and Cranston was poorly handled, at times the conflict just didn't seem fuelled enough. Furthermore the idea that Cranston's company seemed to be having financial problems was a really flimsy aspect of the plot that you lost interest in easily. Frankly what was actually relevant in this film would have struggled to make an hour long film, there was so much meaningless filler content that it became difficult to sit through. The cinematography and editing had such little attention paid to it that it became clear almost immediately that the film had no sense of visual style, everything about how it was shot screamed a lazy director. The soundtrack for the film was a weird and jarring blend; at times it seemed to want to attempt to create it's own sound but ultimately it was just a rather bizarre blend of bad Christmas music and old school rock.

Zoey Deutch, who played Stephanie Fleming, doesn't really seem that close with Franco which undermines a lot of the film; Deutch lacks the range and depth of character to really make her role relateable. Cedric The Entertainer, who played Lou Dunne, is a rather forgettable role in this film; his humour falls flat and he can't seem to keep the printing company storyline afloat. Bryan Cranston, who played Ned Fleming, is just too dry and stiff in this film to really like or enjoy; I was really let down by Cranston's performance because I know he has a lot of comic potential but he just wasn't a good fit for a film like this. Megan Mullally, who played Barb Fleming, was the type of character who was just all over the place; never really the uptight Mum nor the loose wild character she was caught in this weird limbo that never really felt like a good fit for Mullally. Zack Pearlman, who played Kevin Dingle, was just a creepy character; there isn't a thing funny about some nerdy looking fella slobbering over his boss' daughter. Griffin Gluck, who played Scotty Fleming, brought the cringe hard in this film; Gluck was clearly trying a bit harder than everyone else and at times it became all too painfully obvious that he was taking it too far. Jacob Kemp, who played Randy The Intern, was a bit of a throw away role; there was a ton of potential there but he was never afforded the screen time to explore it. Richard Blais, who played Himself, just couldn't act to save himself; he might be a celebrity chef but he did not suit a fictional environment. Elon Musk, who played Himself, was just a pointless cameo; Musk seemed really out of place and not really relevant to the sort of film this was. Adam Devine, Casey Wilson and Andrew Rannells, who played Tyson Modell, Missy Pederman and Blaine Pederman respectively, were just really revolting characters who were not funny in the least; these roles were dark humour gone shockingly bad. Gene Simmons and Peter Criss, who played Themselves, were really poorly used in this film; such an awkward waste of having KISS in your film.