DELIVERY MAN
Starring Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders
Directed by Ken Scott
In trying to explain how he came to be the biological father of 533 children, David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) is finally forced to admit, In my life, I have a tendency to make very, very bad decisions. Now if only Ken Scott had experienced a similar moment of self-awareness.
Charged with remaking his 2011 French-language hit Starbuck, the Quebec writer-director declines to use this chance to address the original's numerous shortcomings, delivering a complete retread instead.
The film's premise the end results of David's generous sperm bank deposits have come home to roost (and joined together in demanding that he reveal himself) still brims with comedic promise. Likewise, Scott's execution remains every bit as shoddy here as it was the first time around. As David less-than-stealthily monitors select progeny, nothing more than mild amusement ensues.
Certainly such a set-up offers the potential for scenarios more inspired than a bumbling Vaughn (who's never been considered a gifted physical comedian) frantically pinch-hitting at a cappuccino bar so that his barista son can audition for the part of a lifetime (wholly indicative of the stock scenarios and dialogue in play here).
Such middling comedy ensures that there's little to distract from the narrative's more suspect elements, be it David's supposedly iron-willed girlfriend (Cobie Smulders) constantly weeping and acquiescing or a half-baked subplot involving an $80-thousand debt to loan sharks that's clumsily introduced, largely ignored, and then resolved in an embarrassingly pat manner. Unfortunately, this supposed crowd-pleaser seems to hold its audience in extremely low regard.
