(From IMDb.com)
This sort of sleaze-in-comedy-clothing you expect from Zac Efron, having slinked down Eeew Lane just two years ago with Neighbors. (Sorority house sequel with Seth Rogen coming soon, trailer in theaters now, beware!)
But sitting through each of the sex-crazy 102 minutes of Dirty Grandpa in a pretty-packed late Friday afternoon showing in the Regal Cinemas’ theater in Syracuse mega shopping, dining and entertainment complex Destiny USA, I couldn’t help but think: Oh, why, Robert De Niro, why.
Why would you sign on to utter these words so-past-innuendo written by
John Phillips? What comes out of your mouth! Offensive in the name of laughs to the max.
Why would you agree to act out these should-be-kept-in-private acts in the story line directed by Dan Mazer right in front of us all?
The plot: Crusty Dick Kelly just lost his wife of four-plus decades. At her funeral, he tells his prim lawyer son he wants his apple-doesn’t-fall-far-from-the-tree grandson to drive him from Atlanta to Florida.
Grandpa turns out to be way more than lusty, and his great yearning to make up for lost time waylays his grandson’s weekend wedding plans back home.
(From IMDb.com)
The women involved in the trip, played by Aubrey Plaza and Zoey Deutch, do more than tolerate these shenanigans. Grandson has to hide stuff from fiancée and dad, played by Julianne Hough and Dermot Mulrooney.
Zefron does privileged, proper and put out by grandpa OK enough. Plaza is over-the-top cartoonish, just like her side character in TV’s quite good and will-be-missed Parks and Recreation Deutch is the best actress here, a strident do-gooder somehow falling for her former college classmate’s lies orchestrated by Grandpa. But wait! Jason starts feeling the truth in his old soldier’s strategies as well.
All others are left in the wake of De Niro as Grandpa, big and loud and bold and crass. All in all, the great one takes it on fully, so he’s quite the jackass who’s meant to have a big heart underneath it all.
But it’s too late for the violins and moral of the story. The outer stench was just too strong for any sort of saving grace.
How much ribald are you looking for in your comedy these days? New widower in his 70s trying to score with college girl as his grandson plays wing man, good role for De Niro or not, and why? What’s your favorite spring-autumn movie romantic pairing, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
De Niro was great with Anne Hathaway in “The Intern” where he played a retired executive who was looking for another challenge in life after losing his wife. Maybe he is wanting to play roles that he wants at the twilight of his career. I see Jennifer Lawrence doing some of that later on in her career now that she has won major awards and critical acclaim.
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Yes, I agree about ‘The Intern,’ Tony. I put it on my Top 10 list from 2015. De Niro has earned the right to choose whatever scripts he wants, agreed. This one was bad. In my humble opinion.
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Tell us how you really feel, Mark. 😉 So glad you don’t dance around the truth. Ewww all the way.
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It wouldn’t be a weekly review to trust yays or Jays if I pulled my punches, Kerbey. 🙂
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There were jokes about De Niro after doing…what was it? 3 Meet the Parents movies. And then he did The Intern and I really thought, “Oh good, he’s back!” But, this is disappointing. Maybe he is just putting money in his pocket. I mean, how many movie roles are really out there for him now? But, I’m disappointed in Zac Efron, too. I loved him in 18 Again and Charlie St. Cloud. I’d love to see him in something where he doesn’t have to take his shirt off (as nice as it is) or resort of low brow humor. And this is coming from someone who loved the American Pie movies, Superbad, Animal House, Porky’s! Filth can be funny, I think, but this one sounds like it’s just filth.
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I agree with you that there’s a line where some of these types of movies are funny and some are not, Rachel. As the old saying goes, I know the blatantly bad ones when I see them. You mentioned some that I enjoyed too, by the way. I think they all had a more playful spirit to them than Dirty Grandpa.
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My husband and I were just discussing De Niro as we actually watched Godfather while being snowed in over the weekend, and how he went from amazing movies (like Goodfellas) and now he is doing a movie like Dirty Grandpa. Although I appreciate that the man is trying to have a sense of humor, their is such a thing as going out on top and having some dignity. Can’t help but wonder if it has become more about the cash then the quality of work put out, especially when compared to some of his other movies.
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On the heels of a wonderful little movie that I put in my 2015 top ten, The Intern, it truly puzzled me, Danielle. So uneven.
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your review confirms everything i felt about this movie after seeing the trailer. it looks/sounds horrible.
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Well, they didn’t hide the truth, anyway, Beth. Oy.
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Harold and Maud. Nothing else can compare.
Thanks for the heads-up, Mr. Mark. I really don’t like the ribald stuff.
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Now that was back in the Day, Linda G. And you’re so welcome.
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I love comedy, but I like smart comedy. Slapstick and innuendo just doesn’t do it for me.
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This one goes way past innuendo, unfortunately, MBC.
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Ugh. Okay then….no need to waste my time. I trust your reviews MBM. The only reviews I need. ❤
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Thank you, my friend, so very much.
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I think when I saw the ads for this one I asked my husband “What is DeNiro doing?” and he answered “collecting a paycheck.”
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I would like to think that De Niro is past needing a paycheck for stuff like this, but what do I know about his finances, Marissa?
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I know what you mean. I always think that if I had achieved any kind of fame and fortune in the arts, I would retire before losing my self respect.
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The flip side is, he sure can do whatever he wants at this point without worrying about his resume, Marissa. This is but a mere blip.
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That’s true!
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Deniro is such a great actor. Why would he do this and in the process sully his formidable career? Money?
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Maybe he thought it was something he hadn’t done before, SD? I just don’t know.
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I can’t comment on this movie until I see it. But my thoughts on the topic are-
I think the ‘geriatric’ element is irrelevant, because I’ve seen plenty of movies that were post 60 and funny and / or sexy. Putting that aside, I do prefer subtlety in some things but I think if the writing is smart, it can still be entertaining, like Stand Up Guys. I really loved that.
I know that feeling though, when someone you always admire in film takes a dump on the screen
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Yup, it’s not that he’s old, Rose, more that he’s creepy!
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I must say, I’m wasn’t interested in seeing this even before you wrote this post, but I appreciate that your writing met my expectation. I enjoy blatant sexy sleazy stuff when it’s crucial to the plot — in movies just like books. (Closer, Sex in the City, even Pulp Fiction) But I rarely enjoy simple crude humor.
I think like anyone else, Mr De Niro is happy to have the work. Maybe he thought it’d be fun. I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy it, even if a 20-second clip tells me I’m not one of them.
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Yes, Joey, there will be an audience for this, I’m sure. Born some three or more decades after me, recalling my past and thinking of my past. I like your point about sexy stuff being crucial to the plot, by the way.
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Oh, no. I was afraid it would be like this. Why, DeNiro, why ? I appreciate his sense of comedy in some recent films, but geriatric sleaze ? …not so much. ☺
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Yes, Van, indeed. Geriatric sleaze this is.
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