In 2011, Canadian director Ken Scott made his debut with Starbuck, and French language film about a man who finds out, due to an error at a sperm bank, he is the father of 533 children. Fast forward to now, and Scott is making his Hollywood debut with Delivery Man, an English language remake with Vince Vaughn in the lead role.
Vaughn plays David Wozniak. A waste of space really, in constant debt and a burden to his family's butcher shop where he works, his life is turned upside down when he discovers 142 of his children filed a lawsuit for him to reveal his identity. Against the advice of his friend, and lawyer, Brett (Chris Pratt), David makes contact with each child anonymously, bestowing on them random acts of kindness, and cleaning up his act in the process.
After a string of comedies which took advantage of Vaughn's brash, fast talking persona, it is refreshing to see him change gears, and go for something a little more heartfelt, slowing down to deliver a fun, feel good tale. Steering clear of being overly schmaltzy for the most part, Delivery Man is content to keep it light hearted (while still giving us something deeper than the trailers promised us) any darker elements of the plot, such as the subject of drug abuse, being quickly swept aside in favour of something more humorous. It doesn't exactly trivialise these plot elements, but it is rather frustrating when the movie wraps up something with a lot of story potential far too easily and neatly. It is just one of the casualty's of an odd narrative structure, which drops plot threads and characters without warning, with them briefly making appearances later on. The plot kicks into high gear far too quickly, David beginning his quest to drop in on his children pretty much as soon as he discovers they exist. It is in keeping with his character, established very early on is the fact he does most things without thinking, but happens far to quickly to properly get invested in the characters plight.
Thankfully that is where the major criticisms end, as Delivery Man is a hell of a lot of fun. Helped by tight and funny script, the humour is perfectly pitched, most of the time kept to a chuckle, with a few hearty laughs thrown in for good measure, and, after the aforementioned narrative sprint at the start, the plot moves at a good pace, leading to a predictable, but satisfactory, conclusion. Vaughn changes up things here, delivering a quieter role than what we are used to from him. His trademark fast talking takes a back seat here, and it is fun to see him lost for words at times, struggling to figure out what to do next. It is the first time I've enjoyed the actor in a long time. Cobie Smulders, as the love interest, doesn't get much to do here beyond the usual. A shame really, since anybody who has watched How I Met Your Mother knows she is a serious comedy talent. There is a dense supporting cast here, all putting good performances, including Ireland's own Simon Delaney and Jack Reynor (both making their Hollywood feature film debut) as David's brother and one of his many sons respectively. Sporting impressive American accents, they both put in very good work here, making their brief screen time count. But the show well and truly belongs to Chris Pratt's Brett. Eliciting the biggest laughs whenever he is on screen, whether it is trying in vain to get through to his four young kids or messing up the trial that would make his career, he is worth the price of admission alone, and shows promise for when he tackles the big time with Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in the Summer.
While not perfect, Delivery Man is still an enjoyable, feel good romp, helped immensely by some very good performances and well judged humour. A good alternative as awards season gets into full swing.
Vaughn plays David Wozniak. A waste of space really, in constant debt and a burden to his family's butcher shop where he works, his life is turned upside down when he discovers 142 of his children filed a lawsuit for him to reveal his identity. Against the advice of his friend, and lawyer, Brett (Chris Pratt), David makes contact with each child anonymously, bestowing on them random acts of kindness, and cleaning up his act in the process.
After a string of comedies which took advantage of Vaughn's brash, fast talking persona, it is refreshing to see him change gears, and go for something a little more heartfelt, slowing down to deliver a fun, feel good tale. Steering clear of being overly schmaltzy for the most part, Delivery Man is content to keep it light hearted (while still giving us something deeper than the trailers promised us) any darker elements of the plot, such as the subject of drug abuse, being quickly swept aside in favour of something more humorous. It doesn't exactly trivialise these plot elements, but it is rather frustrating when the movie wraps up something with a lot of story potential far too easily and neatly. It is just one of the casualty's of an odd narrative structure, which drops plot threads and characters without warning, with them briefly making appearances later on. The plot kicks into high gear far too quickly, David beginning his quest to drop in on his children pretty much as soon as he discovers they exist. It is in keeping with his character, established very early on is the fact he does most things without thinking, but happens far to quickly to properly get invested in the characters plight.
Thankfully that is where the major criticisms end, as Delivery Man is a hell of a lot of fun. Helped by tight and funny script, the humour is perfectly pitched, most of the time kept to a chuckle, with a few hearty laughs thrown in for good measure, and, after the aforementioned narrative sprint at the start, the plot moves at a good pace, leading to a predictable, but satisfactory, conclusion. Vaughn changes up things here, delivering a quieter role than what we are used to from him. His trademark fast talking takes a back seat here, and it is fun to see him lost for words at times, struggling to figure out what to do next. It is the first time I've enjoyed the actor in a long time. Cobie Smulders, as the love interest, doesn't get much to do here beyond the usual. A shame really, since anybody who has watched How I Met Your Mother knows she is a serious comedy talent. There is a dense supporting cast here, all putting good performances, including Ireland's own Simon Delaney and Jack Reynor (both making their Hollywood feature film debut) as David's brother and one of his many sons respectively. Sporting impressive American accents, they both put in very good work here, making their brief screen time count. But the show well and truly belongs to Chris Pratt's Brett. Eliciting the biggest laughs whenever he is on screen, whether it is trying in vain to get through to his four young kids or messing up the trial that would make his career, he is worth the price of admission alone, and shows promise for when he tackles the big time with Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in the Summer.
While not perfect, Delivery Man is still an enjoyable, feel good romp, helped immensely by some very good performances and well judged humour. A good alternative as awards season gets into full swing.
