Film Review – Dirty Grandpa
2 min read
Dirty Grandpa does exactly what it’s supposed to; it makes you laugh at things you shouldn’t. Starring Robert De Niro and Zac Efron as grandpa and grandson respectively, Dirty Grandpa is chock full of politically incorrect jokes and down right dirty moments.
Jason Kelly (Efron) is as uptight as they come; his girlfriend Meredith (Julianne Hough) plays him like a puppet and loses her mind when she can’t track his every movement. She even makes him choose the colour of his tie for their rehearsal dinner in the middle of Jason’s Grandma’s funeral. Talk about crazy.
At the reception for his wife’s funeral, Dick Kelly (De Niro) convinces Jason to drive him to Florida so he can stay in the place he and his wife visited every year. But as soon as Jason picks his Grandpa up, everything blows up in his face. Dick has decided to hijack what should be a placid and mournful trip, and turn it into the party of a life time.
Here is the thing: you can’t walk into Dirty Grandpa expecting an epic Robert De Niro film; something the seasoned actor is renowned for thanks to roles like Cape Fear, Raging Bull and Taxi Driver among many others throughout his career. Dirty Grandpa is a little more Meet the Fockers than GoodFellas. De Niro’s character Dick is beyond inappropriate, putting even the dirtiest of dirty grandpas to shame. He has a twisted and inappropriate relationship with college girl Lenore (Aubrey Plaza), who is overtly attracted to Dick’s older man status. De Niro even gets the chance to show off his physical prowess that puts Efron to shame.
Dirty Grandpa is trying to appeal to a very particular audience, and it’s the audience that grew up with Efron in High School Musical. At one point during the film, Jason is dragged up on stage by his love interest Shadia (Zoey Deutch) to sing some Karaoke and he does the coy little moves that make it seem like he doesn’t want to be there. But then, in very High School Musical fashion, bursts out into song. It’s little homages like this that give the comedy that little bit more zing.
While Dirty Grandpa isn’t everyones cup of tea but it’s certainly hit the nail on the head for it’s target audience. Afterall, why does a movie have to be ground breaking or tell a fantastic story to be good? Dirty Grandpa is just plain funny, for all the wrong and the right reasons. There’s often an obsession with telling smart jokes to make a fabulous film, but what is wrong with writing a film just to make people laugh at things they shouldn’t? Dirty Grandpa is full of dick jokes, drugs, and the most inappropriate characters that all come together to make a laugh-a-minute film.
