boyfriend
boyfriend

Why Him? It’s the boyfriend from hell

Riley Riley

It’s time to meet the boyfriend and the Flemings are in for more than they bargained for . . . a lot more!

Why Him? is a zany comedy starring Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, along with James Franco and Zoey Deutch.

In fact, it’s something of a Christmas movie if you’re looking for an alternative to the usual yuletide offerings.

Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston), owns and operates a printing business in a wintery Grand Rapids, Michigan.

He’s celebrating his 55th birthday with friends and colleagues when he receives a surprise zoom call from daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) who is studying for a degree at Stanford university.

Even more surprising is her boyfriend Laird Mayhew (James Franco), who wanders into the frame, drops his shorts  and “moons” shocked partygoers.

Steph is understandably embarrassed.

Ned and wife Barb (Megan Mullally) are completely stunned, not just because of his actions, but because they didn’t know their daughter had a boyfriend — she hadn’t told them.

They’re invited along with little brother Scotty (Griffin Gluck) to come and meet Laird and spend Christmas with them at his expansive estate in California.

He’s the CEO of a video games company and a millionaire many times over, we learn later.

It quickly becomes obvious that Laird is eccentric and quite possibly on the spectrum, with little or no boundaries.

The Flemings are greeted by a bare-chested Laird who gives them the grand tour of his hi-tech house, which is also home to his business and its colourful crew who may or may not live there — he’s not quite sure.

Laird’s also got a potty mouth, with every second word punctuated by the ‘F’ word.

He’s just had a large tattoo of the Flemings’ Christmas card emblazoned across his back, complete with “Happy Holidays” underneath.

The living room features an enormous fish tank in which a complete moose floats in its own urine.

In the basement he has constructed a two-lane bowling alley with a mural of Ned, posed in a “crotch-chop” position.

Everywhere they go a potty-mouthed AI Justine keeps tabs on them.

Starting to get the picture?

Why Him? is a laugh a minute as the conservative and clearly uncomfortable Ned is forced to come to terms with the situation and the man who wants to marry his daughter.

Ouch!

The scene where we find him sitting on the loo with no toilet paper to complete the job is inspired.

Ned talks to Stephanie about Laird’s outrageous behaviour but she asks him to just give him a chance, “he has a good heart”.

All the while he is worried about his struggling printing company which is deeply in debt and fast running out of options.

Of course, Ned hasn’t shared this information with his family.

While Why Him? is not the world’s greatest movie, with its off-the-wall comedy it’s entertaining and a bit different, that’s the main thing.

Why Him? is directed by John Hamburg, written by Hamburg and Ian Helfer based on a story by Jonah Hill, produced by Hill, Shawn Levy, and Ben Stiller.

Hamburg is known for Little Fockers (2010)Why Him? (2016) and I Love You, Man (2009).

Cranston and Franco are the perfect fit as Ned and Laird who keep banging heads as the story unfolds.

Apparently the original script was called Aloha and set in Hawaii, with Ben Stiller as the father and Jonah Hill as the boyfriend.

Many of the paintings in Laird’s house are actually those of Franco himself who is credited as an avid artist and his artwork is featured in many of his films.

Look out for cameos by technology, gaming, and entertainment figures, such as Burnie BurnsSteve AokiRichard BlaisElon MuskToby Turner — not to mention Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the band Kiss.

You can catch Why Him? on Netflix and Disney+.

 

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Time out score

Final thoughts . . .

Good fun, plenty of F bombs!

Overall
3.5

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Riley