Dirty Grandpa is one of the latest comedic offerings to grace the big screen. In this light-hearted romp, we see Dick Kelly (Robert De Niro) trick his uptight grandson, Jason Kelly (Zac Efron), into a spring break road trip, filled with all kinds of kooky hi-jinks. Jason is one week away from marrying his controlling fiancée and destined for a dull life as a partner in a law firm.
The film opens with a rather sombre event in the form of the funeral of Dick’s wife, and the cheap, drug-fuelled gags thrown in at the wake from the obvious under-achieving stoner cousin seem to set the tone for the whole film. Dick manages to persuade Jason into taking him down to Florida to play a round of golf in his holiday home in memory of his grandma, but, of course, this isn’t all it seems. A brief encounter in a small off-road diner with some crude jokes, banter and a fabricated back-story introduces us to new love interests.
Zac Efron stars alongside Robert De Niro
The pair finally makes it to the golf course and, it would appear, our young hero Jason is starting to catch on that perhaps his grandfather has ulterior motives! They head off to the beach and along the way meet Pam (probably the most redeeming character of the entire movie!), who quickly makes it clear that he will supply any kind of substance the duo could ever desire. They soon find themselves tied into a drinking contest with some fratboy lacrosse players, but luckily, Dick has a secret up his sleeve to ensure the competition will work in their favour! (If only he had informed his grandson of this decision…)
The film itself seems to follow an age-old rather predictable buddy formula, but also somehow manages to crush in a road trip, father-son-type bonding, fratboy stereotypes, romance, espionage and brawling. At times, it feels as though the film itself is trying too hard to be something it’s not.
De Niro almost seems to have a typecast background story of some kind of special forces operative (see: Meet the Parents), but at the end of the day the film did in fact make me laugh and I found myself really enjoying the small amount of screen time Pam had. Some characters felt exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness, yet I still couldn’t help myself but root for Jason’s and Dick’s relationship. You feel yourself wanting this lecherous old man to succeed with his goal of scoring with the college girl, and you feel dirty for it!
The story itself was nothing original, it did nothing new, but ultimately it was enjoyable, and the gags will gain a few laughs from some if not the majority. So to summarise, I would recommend seeing this movie if it was on TV and nothing better was on.
Author – Will, Norwich store
