A holiday gathering threatens to go off the rails when Ned Fleming realizes that his daughter's Silicon Valley millionaire boyfriend is about to pop the question.
Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo.
Right before his wedding, an uptight guy is tricked into driving his grandfather, a lecherous former Army Lieutenant Colonel, to Florida for Spring Break.
Brad Whitaker is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad. But his plans turn upside down when their biological father, Dusty Mayron, returns.
Director:
Sean Anders
Stars:
Will Ferrell,
Mark Wahlberg,
Linda Cardellini
When their new next-door neighbors turn out to be a sorority even more debaucherous than the fraternity previously living there, Mac and Kelly team with their former enemy, Teddy, to bring the girls down.
When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun and comedic self-indulgence.
Dave Skylark and his producer Aaron Rapaport run the celebrity tabloid show "Skylark Tonight". When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, they are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him.
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt and Jenko when they go deep undercover at a local college.
Over the holidays, Ned, an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley millionaire boyfriend, Laird. The rivalry develops,and Ned's panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question.Written by
20th Century Fox
The headboard to the Alaskan King bed in Ned and Barb's room at Laird's house, was made by Nick Offerman's "Offerman Workshop". Barb is played by Megan Mullally, who is married to Nick Offerman. See more »
Goofs
The first night at Laird's house, "Smoked California Bear" is served for dinner but later in the film Laird says that everything served is from within 500 yards of the house. While he has a lot of animals on the properly, odds are that he doesn't have any bears. See more »
Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
Written by Joey Ramone
Performed by Ramones
Courtesy of Sire Records
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing See more »
When is crude humor actually funny? Any answer to that question is highly subjective and there are probably as many ways to answer it as there are Movie Fans reading this review. For some, the answer would be simply "never", but for most, it seems to depend at least a little on age, gender and ethnicity, but mostly on personal experiences and outlook on life. In the opinion of this Movie Fan / film reviewer, comedic cinematic crudities are the best which offend the least. In other words, it's all about the context in which the humor is presented. Adult language, for example, isn't funny just because there's a lot of it, but the use and/or amount of it can be very funny if it's in service to a plot which calls for it – and in situations that are otherwise comical on their own. Adult humor (such as R-rated language, personal insults, juvenile humor, sex jokes, outrageous sight gags, etc.) is much funnier when it's good natured – as opposed to mean-spirited – especially when children or other vulnerable or minority populations are involved. All this is especially true for holiday comedies, which is why I can hate the "Bad Santa" movies, but still love films like 2011's "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" – and 2016's "Why Him?" (R, 1:51).
The character asking this film's titular question is Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston), an old-fashioned owner of a struggling printing company and loving husband to similarly uptight Barb (Megan Mullally), 15-year-old budding businessman Scotty (Griffin Gluck) and college student Stephanie (Zoey Deutch). Stephanie has fallen in love with a somewhat older and very successful video game company CEO named Laird Mayhew (James Franco). Laird is completely without guile, but, as the mother of "The Waterboy" (1998) described her son, "lacks the social skills". Laird isn't a nerd, but his father and mother were both lacking in the positive parental influences and Laird is now an adult without inhibitions – or a filter between what comes into his head and what comes out of his mouth. (Think an even more free-spirited, cruder and much more intelligent version of most of Adam Sandler's movie characters from the mid-late 90s).
After Stephanie's relationship with Laird is unexpectedly and hilariously exposed to her family, they fly from their home in Michigan to California in order to meet and spend Christmas with Steph's new beau. Let's just say that Laird makes quite a first impression. His estate manager, the European and vaguely Germanic Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key), is only a little more socially astute than Laird and tries to advise his employer and friend on how to get on Ned's good side, noting, "You two don't speak the same language. You speak English, with resounding amounts of f---." Laird is able to win over Scotty and even Barb, but is very desperate to impress Ned, so he can get Ned's blessing to propose to Stephanie. Laird's millennial eccentric lifestyle, his impromptu self-defense training sessions with Gustav and his wild parties make winning Ned's approval even more challenging, but makes for a lot of fun for the audience.
"Why Him?" is crudely hilarious and hilariously crude, mostly because of the film's stellar cast. It's not just that this cast is experienced and talented (which they are – in spades), but they are amazingly well-suited for their roles. Franco is pitch perfect playing what seems to be a more outlandish version of himself. Cranston and Mullally's TV sitcom cred make them ideal as the parents – and with excellent chemistry. Key is similarly comedically inspired, rising star Gluck is just the right amount of earnestly precocious and Deutch is a wonderful combination of smart, strong and sexy. There are also some great cameos – in person and via voice work, as is the case with Kaley Cuoco, playing herself, serving as the voice of Laird's practically sentient and seemingly omniscient and omnipresent household AI system. (Think a smarter, humorous, sarcastic and conversant version of the ubiquitous Amazon Echo's Alexa.) Of course, the script by John Hamburg and Ian Helfer give the actors plenty of jokes and funny situations to work with, while Hamburg's direction makes great use of his ensemble's chemistry and comedic talents (including allowing for and encouraging plenty of improvisation) and he keeps the film's pacing and the timing of its gags on point. Unfortunately, some of the jokes are more bizarre than humorous, there are a few unintentionally awkward moments and the amount of Laird's bizarre behavior that Stephanie tolerates feels unrealistic, but those are relatively minor issues. The basic question at this point is why see "Why Him?" The answer for those who aren't automatically offended by crude humor and who enjoy that type of comedy when it comes with heart and is actually funny, is Why Not? "A-"
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When is crude humor actually funny? Any answer to that question is highly subjective and there are probably as many ways to answer it as there are Movie Fans reading this review. For some, the answer would be simply "never", but for most, it seems to depend at least a little on age, gender and ethnicity, but mostly on personal experiences and outlook on life. In the opinion of this Movie Fan / film reviewer, comedic cinematic crudities are the best which offend the least. In other words, it's all about the context in which the humor is presented. Adult language, for example, isn't funny just because there's a lot of it, but the use and/or amount of it can be very funny if it's in service to a plot which calls for it – and in situations that are otherwise comical on their own. Adult humor (such as R-rated language, personal insults, juvenile humor, sex jokes, outrageous sight gags, etc.) is much funnier when it's good natured – as opposed to mean-spirited – especially when children or other vulnerable or minority populations are involved. All this is especially true for holiday comedies, which is why I can hate the "Bad Santa" movies, but still love films like 2011's "A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas" – and 2016's "Why Him?" (R, 1:51).
The character asking this film's titular question is Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston), an old-fashioned owner of a struggling printing company and loving husband to similarly uptight Barb (Megan Mullally), 15-year-old budding businessman Scotty (Griffin Gluck) and college student Stephanie (Zoey Deutch). Stephanie has fallen in love with a somewhat older and very successful video game company CEO named Laird Mayhew (James Franco). Laird is completely without guile, but, as the mother of "The Waterboy" (1998) described her son, "lacks the social skills". Laird isn't a nerd, but his father and mother were both lacking in the positive parental influences and Laird is now an adult without inhibitions – or a filter between what comes into his head and what comes out of his mouth. (Think an even more free-spirited, cruder and much more intelligent version of most of Adam Sandler's movie characters from the mid-late 90s).
After Stephanie's relationship with Laird is unexpectedly and hilariously exposed to her family, they fly from their home in Michigan to California in order to meet and spend Christmas with Steph's new beau. Let's just say that Laird makes quite a first impression. His estate manager, the European and vaguely Germanic Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key), is only a little more socially astute than Laird and tries to advise his employer and friend on how to get on Ned's good side, noting, "You two don't speak the same language. You speak English, with resounding amounts of f---." Laird is able to win over Scotty and even Barb, but is very desperate to impress Ned, so he can get Ned's blessing to propose to Stephanie. Laird's millennial eccentric lifestyle, his impromptu self-defense training sessions with Gustav and his wild parties make winning Ned's approval even more challenging, but makes for a lot of fun for the audience.
"Why Him?" is crudely hilarious and hilariously crude, mostly because of the film's stellar cast. It's not just that this cast is experienced and talented (which they are – in spades), but they are amazingly well-suited for their roles. Franco is pitch perfect playing what seems to be a more outlandish version of himself. Cranston and Mullally's TV sitcom cred make them ideal as the parents – and with excellent chemistry. Key is similarly comedically inspired, rising star Gluck is just the right amount of earnestly precocious and Deutch is a wonderful combination of smart, strong and sexy. There are also some great cameos – in person and via voice work, as is the case with Kaley Cuoco, playing herself, serving as the voice of Laird's practically sentient and seemingly omniscient and omnipresent household AI system. (Think a smarter, humorous, sarcastic and conversant version of the ubiquitous Amazon Echo's Alexa.) Of course, the script by John Hamburg and Ian Helfer give the actors plenty of jokes and funny situations to work with, while Hamburg's direction makes great use of his ensemble's chemistry and comedic talents (including allowing for and encouraging plenty of improvisation) and he keeps the film's pacing and the timing of its gags on point. Unfortunately, some of the jokes are more bizarre than humorous, there are a few unintentionally awkward moments and the amount of Laird's bizarre behavior that Stephanie tolerates feels unrealistic, but those are relatively minor issues. The basic question at this point is why see "Why Him?" The answer for those who aren't automatically offended by crude humor and who enjoy that type of comedy when it comes with heart and is actually funny, is Why Not? "A-"